His Lingering Caress
by Lady Amari Espris
Summary: Usa's your regular single, attractive woman, living life with friends & ocasional bigot at times, but she finds herself still lost in her past. What happens when he finds her? R for violence. UM
1. Prologue

His Lingering Caress

Written by: L. Amari Espris

Prologue

Tapping the Veins

Even though I'm already at the healthy, chaste, and college graduate age of twenty-four, the memories of my childhood still haunt me. It sidetracks me from my work and from my friends. I think they, my friends, I mean, even believe me to be an extreme oddball of all of humanity, if they haven't thought that already. They complain from time to time about my peculiar habit of spacing out in the midst of the most awkward situations.

Take the time at Naru's, 'oh-so-wonderful-and-splendidly-enjoyable' wedding reception as an example. Or, better yet, the preparation I had to go through before the reception even started. Actually, cross those two theories. Let's start from some time before the wedding started.

You see, I was Osaka Naru's infamous maid of honor. It was definitely a great privilege for me to do so, and she actually trusted me to do the job correctly. She and her man, Umino, had planned this wedding for so long. If I remember correctly, it was during our third and last year of high school, and their second year of being an item, that they've started all this meticulous planning for their wedding in the future. I was her best friend, and still am her best friend "in the whole, wide world!" according to her (boy, isn't that a childish phrase), throughout our high school life, so it naturally placed me as the one she would rely on in her time of wholly matrimony.

One downer: I'm the biggest ditz in the country of Japan, once more, according to my dearest Naru. I wouldn't be surprised if I was the number one klutz in the whole world, really. There wouldn't be a minute without me receiving a moment of embarrassing clumsiness. I would always be in contact with the ground, face first. That was done by tripping, falling, crashing, colliding, stumbling, and bumping into all kinds of objects, stationary ones and moving ones alike—humans included.

That being the case, it was obvious that being the beautiful bride's maid of honor would prove to be quite difficult for me to manage. Yes, indeed, it was a difficult task to accomplish. How difficult, you ask? Well, I shan't get into too much detail about that. It's too humiliating and too painful to recall all the incidents (yes, it's plural, thus meaning more than once!) that I, as well as all those part of the wedding, had to suffer from. Let's just put it this way. I am only lucky that Naru is my best friend. My crazy klutz attacks are also fortunate enough to be dealt with by the most patient and gentle soul that I know of in this small world of mineâ€or as kind and tender as they can get, anyway.

Alas, all the pain and torture that I've put everyone through has managed to not be put to such valuable waste. And besides, with all the threats they gave me to, "Tsukino Usagi, if you even dare to fall one more time before making it to the altar, I ( insert deathly and tempting threat here )," I had to make sure it went well. My body, I suppose, was shocked and convinced enough to not take a small 'holiday escape time.' It was the one being threatened the most, after all. Oh, the gruesome torture my wild imagination had to go through with picturing all those evilâ€uhâ€I'll cease with the ramble of that.

The wedding day came, and went with no dilemmas whatsoever. Well, other than the occasional hallucinations and vague loss-of-sanity flashes from the bride from time to time, but it was nothing a little slapping and yelling here and there couldn't cure. The military commands came in handy, too. A little bit of bonking on the head once in a while with my younger brother's childhood play toy, the plastic squeaky hammer, was a nice finishing touch of persuasion, too. But I digress.

I think Naru's parents were the ones that wanted to kill me the most. With their bare hands, too. I swear, their faces were as red as the ripest tomatoes that you could find in a farmer's harvest field when they found out that I had toppled over their married daughter's wedding cake. Yes, it was the most embarrassing moment in my adult life. I say adult life because the childhood boor attacks weren't really all that splendid either, but that's a completely different story.

Ah, you might be wondering how I managed to pull that 'ruin the wedding cake for your cherished best friend's wedding' charade, right? I can summarize the whole cause of it in one word. Care to know what that is? Oh, boy, will you be surprised! The cause of this whole disaster is because of some lame heels. To be more specific, high heels. And just to be even more specific, three-inch high heels that are hidden completely from the world by your elegant, "you have to wear that for my wedding, Usa! It's just perfect for you!" Bridesmaid gown. Those were Naru's wonderful words of encouragement again. I shouldn't listen to her anymore.

Oh, I almost forgot, I was also reflecting back on my childhood years when that happened, so I guess it is also partially my fault. The heels have a life of their own, so it's not really a part of me.

To add to it even more, I injured some people along the way. In other words, I dragged them down with me when I fell. That included the groom, Umino in case you're forgetting, and his best man, who I accidentally had, and still have, forgotten his name. I think I also pulled the other maids down with me. It was their own fault. They should've known better not to help me, or even attempt to at that. Naru was the only one wise enough to steer clear of me and those killing heels of mine.

How I can have such a wise, graceful, and sweet friend be so harsh and brutal with me all at once, I never knew, I still don't know, and I will most likely never know for as long as I live. And maybe some time after my life, I still won't know. Just my assumption, though.

The cake was ruined, no doubt about that. It was all over me, actually. Thus, the reason why I had to change. Thus, the reason of why I was late to the reception. Nonetheless, I still don't know what they had put in that cake that was so difficult for me to get out of my hair. I believe I used my whole two bottles of shampoo that day. Hair that flows all the way past your knees and ends about mid-calf isn't easy to manage. Oh, that reminds me. I still need to kill the maker of that cake.

Naru came prepared, though, and it shocked everyone, and I mean everyone. She had called up one of our high school friends, Makoto, a few weeks before to make a request. That request was a replacement wedding cake. Of course, Makoto obliged to such an order, and went straight to work. Needless to say, she had outdone herself. It was the most beautiful cake that I have ever laid eyes upon, and believe me, I know. If I know Makoto, she loves to cook, and she always tries and tries until it is beyond perfection; she's so refined when it comes to cooking. At least I know who shall be doing the cake for my wedding—if I ever do wed, that is.

Amazingly enough, again, my best friend's parents grudgingly forgave me when they saw the amateur chef's delicate work of a cake. I didn't have to worry about my will, which I had a faint sketch of in my mind in case I did have to die soon in life. After all, with all those death threats (refer to the rehearsals for the entrance of the wedding) screeching at my disbanding piece of wood that is a poor excuse of a door, I had to think up of all the precious heirlooms of mine that I had to give away, right? But of course, my lovely journal from high school shall be kept and cremated with my dead carcass. Maybe my cat, too, but for other reasons.

But one thing that I still can't quite figure out. I don't know if I should be thrilled and relieved or distressed and appalled by the fact that Naru expected me, the maid of honor and her best friend "in the whole wide world!", to ruin her wedding cake. But then again, maybe she thought that me, Tsukino Usagi, the biggest ditz in all of Japan and also the well renowned daydreamer and hopeless romantic of the entire world, should ruin a terrific bride's wedding cake. That's the bigger picture, after all, right? Oh, woe is me! Really. It is

It has been four years since her wedding and that dreaded "I'll kill you for ruining my baby's wedding! Oh, but I forgive you know; your pathetic excuse for a life has been spared, but only for now" episode. Four years of remembrance of that special occasion. Four anniversaries for the wedded and happy couple, 'Mr. and Mrs. Umino Gurio.' It's been three years, however, since the birth of their beloved, angelic blessing, Ichiko.

Ah, that little adorable, and oh, so darling baby Ichiko. She looks more like her mother than anything else; sparkling green apple cider eyes, rosy, pink and chubby cheeks, a pert little nose, and pale, creamy smooth skin. She also has her mother's smileâ€and her bite. The only thing that she has inherited from her father is the hair—a deep and rich chocolate brown, but with a tinge of her mother's impressive red hair.

Hopefully their daughter won't inherit her father's worse trait: creeping around, nosing in other people's affairs, and wear those weird thick goggles that he called glasses back in high school. I just hope that Ichiko turns out to be like Naru. I pray for it every night!

Did I mention that the married couple gifted me with the most wonderful birthday present? It was after they found out that Naru was pregnant with Ichiko, which was somewhere in June. As I recall, it was in the beginning of June. They had found out about the baby, but they kept it from me. How cruel is that?! They kept the baby from me, their best friend!

Well, actually, it's Naru's best friend, not Melvin's, but same difference! It was later that I found out, on my birthday, that she was pregnant. I jumped with joy at that news! Not only was I turning a nice twenty that day, but I also learned that my best friend was pregnant with her first child.

It was the happiest moment of my life! Why? They also wanted me to be their child's godmother! Boy, did I want to faint at that news. Wait, I think I did. I don't remember, though, so oh well. They didn't even ask me to be the godmother. Naru was having one of those lovely pregnant mother's mood swings, and she pretty much threatened me, at knife-point, to be the godmother of their child. Being in such a position, I couldn't refuse. I literally saw my life fly past me in a flash when she told me, but I did learn a lesson on that day:

'Never allow Naru into your kitchen when you have your lovely new collection of kitchen knives (butcher knife included) out on display for the whole world to see.'

Kind of long, huh? But, I did revise it later when she came into my kitchen again the week after my birthday and her demand. I did hide my stash of beautiful knives away, but she threatened me with my cooking utensils and then with my precious eating utensils at the dinner table with my family. On that day, I learned a new lesson, thus the shorter version of my first lesson on "How to Tolerate (the Pregnant) Naru." It goes something like this:

'Never allow Naru into your kitchen ever again. (If you are to dine with her, be sure to strap her down in the seat, and give her plastic, non-pointed eating utensils.)'

Okay, so it's not as short. Who cares? It's my life at stake here!

I keep dwindling away from the main point here. It's such a bad habit of mine. I pity those that have to put up with me daily. Such people are the ever-so intelligent, Mizuno Ami, the psychotic pyromaniac, Hino Rei, the thunderous chef, Kino Makoto, and the chaotic matchmaker, Aino Minako.

Need I add that Minako is also my twin! We are definitely not related at all, in any way possible, but she and I look pretty much exactly alike: blue eyes, golden air, a cute little button nose, and the rest of that shenanigan. There are only slight differences and that's that my hair has a tinge of silver in it whilst hers is all an opulent cream of sun colored blonde, and her eyes are a tad bit of a lighter hue than mine are, too. Facial features, a trivial difference there. Hers are more defined whereas mine a bit more soft.

As I was saying at the very beginning, my memories of childhood still haunt me. I drive everyone insane when I space out, mostly because they don't understand why I do what I do. See, I've never told anyone about my past, or my memories. I was cared for, and worried over so many times before. Even now at times. I keep my past to myself because it's nothing I should worry my friends about. It's nothing of importance, anyway; it was all in the past. I need to focus more on my present and my future.

Speaking of the present, I am currently located in my measly tiny apartment with the stereo blaring some random songs that I've burnt onto a CD some nights ago. I'm splayed across the couch in one of those "lazy couch potatoes" poses and reading a novel that I bought just this morning at the local bookstore. It's quite an enthralling book, mind you, but Minako and Rei might beg to differ. They always get into such a haughty mood about me and my books. Probably because they don't enjoy them as much as I do. Oh, well.

I'm quite lucky for now, though. The girls are out right now. Minako went shopping again. Rei is visiting her grandfather at the Temple and will be staying there for about a week, I think. Oh, and Ami is at the library, hitting up those lovely medical books. As for Makoto, I'm not really sure. She didn't tell me what she was going to be doing this morning when they all decided to come and wake me up at 7:30 in the morning, but most likely, she's at her small bakery shop that she opened not long ago. It's filled with such tasty treats!

The girls all live in the same apartment complex as me. Minako stays with Rei, Ami with her boyfriend, and Makoto with her boyfriend, too. Of course, their apartments are nicer than mine, but that's only because they can split the cost of the monthly rent with their roommates. I can't for I live on my own. The girls all come to keep me company, however, since they don't want me to be alone. Either that or they're just bored out of their minds and have nothing better to do with their time, nor mine, and come up to irritate the hell out of me. But that's no problem for me if I'm in a good mood.

What do I mean by "if I'm in a good mood?" That is a simple explanation. There's a guy that I happen to come across ever so often, if not daily, out in the streets that seems to have troubles keeping his thoughts and attitude to himself. What I mean by that is that he bugs me. Therefore, my bad mood. Just because I accidentally spilled his hot coffee and my poor sundae on his lap when I was walking to get a seat with my gang at the Crown Arcade, he has to come and taunt me on a daily basis ever since. It's been about a year since that meeting took place. If meeting him just at the Crown Arcade wasn't bad enough, I just so happen to meet him wherever I end up going. Today, however, is my lucky day—as I've said before. I haven't seen him anywhere today, and I want it to stay that way. Thus, I shall remain in my small, wimpy, but humble, abode for the rest of the day.

As if right on cue, I hear the phone ringing its annoying octave. I seriously hate the phone sound. It's too shrilly. Or maybe that's just my phone.

"Note to self: Buy a new, non-shrilly phone, and toss this one out the window." Sighing, I stand up from my laid back position on my cream colored sofa, and saunter to the little desk in the corner of my living room near the kitchen's entrance door. _'It's too far away from my T.V. and couch,'_ I notice. _'Better find a better place to put the phone.' _

"Ah, crap," I muster under my breath. I walked all the way from the couch to the little desk just to be greeted with the phone's cradle. The actual phone is no where in sight. "Where did I put the phone again?!" Another piercing chime from the dear phone twinges through my ears and creates an infinite echo inside my mind. I let out a cry of frustration and grip my head in pain. I feel a massive headache coming onâ€how pleasant. "Oh, curse it all! Where did I place that blasted, pitiable excuse of a phone?"

Yet, another ring to add to my pain. Hastily, I rummage through my whole apartment looking for that wretched telephone. Is this the punishment for having a cordless handset? I thought it would be nice since I always had to lug around this place and work at my desk in my bedroom. It's less of a hassle at least. I couldn't have a phone in my room since my desk was too jammed pack with my supplies and computer already, so I thought getting a cordless one to place on the small table in my living room would be a nice idea.

The constant ringing hasn't ceased yet, and it's really making me crazy. I have already flipped my couch inside out, and no phone. I went to my bedroom, and pretty much ransacked the place, and still no phone. I even went to my bathroom and searched in my small tub. Still no phone. "Blast it all!" I storm my way to the living room again, and plop down on the cushion-less sofa, only to meet the hard bone of it with my own hard spine. Damn it all.

The stupid nuisance is still calling. Shouldn't the answer machine pick up now? How many rings have it been already? Five? Ten? Twenty rings? And it still won't stop. Now I'm beginning to wonder who can be so desperate as to call me after hearing the ringing monotone for so long on the receiving end. Growling, I jump up and stomped around the couch a bit, not caring about the complaints from the occupants below my feet that I will most likely get tonight. I make my way up to the cradle again, and stare at it. If looks could kill

The ringing comes again, and I glower at it even more.

'_Maybe if I glare at it long enough, the caller will get the message and stop.'_ Ha! Fat chance. Another ring comes to ruin my wonderful theory. I'm about ready to tear the phone line out of the wall now. And another—

"Oh, shut up, you damn phone!" I shriek at it, and bend over to unplug it from the wall. I stop halfway, though. I blink a couple times and muster up all the courage that I could find not to kill myself right then and there. It was very little. I try to resist the dreary urge to slink my way to the kitchen and get out the lovely knives out to slit myself with. The ringing of the phone seems to help me control it, too. I think it's laughing at me. It sounds as though it is, and it's creeping me out.

I abusively snatched the phone off of the ground. It was under the table all this time! Another ring escapes from it while residing in my life-escaping grip. I hear the phone's thick plastic shell cracking. I immediately push the 'On' button, and put it to my ear.

"Hello?" I growl. A dial tone is all I am able to hear as a response. I believe that a twig of my patience tree that grows inside of me just snapped. "Oh, so now you decide to quit with the call, huh?" I say aloud, hoping that the person that was calling got my message. "The nerve" Taking a deep, soothing breath, I place the phone gently down on the cradle.

Even before I am able to take my hand off of the body of the phone, it starts up again. Screaming a lovely string of curses, I push the button and wait for the light to turn green before putting the phone to my ear again. In as sweet of a tone that I could manage without puking, I begin to speak. "Hello? This is Tsukino Usagi speaking." Silence is all I received from the other end. "Hello?" I start again after a while. No reply again. "Usagi speaking here. May I knowâ€who's" I trail off as I hear a hushed 'click' and then the hateful dial tone.

I am quite aware of the fact that my patience tree just lost a thick, once unbreakable, bough. Staring at the phone, warily, I mutter some curses that sound like gibberish to my ears and then stalk back to my evil couch with the phone still clutched dangerously in my hand. With my free hand, I start to pick up the cushions that lay haphazardly on the carpeting. I don't even get the chance to finish picking up the second cushion because the phone crazily starts to notoriously ring for the umpteenth time.

I don't even bother trying to maintain my cool and calm self. I just pushed the button, and growl with a voice that could even shock the dead enough to shudder in their graves. "Listen here, you freakin' idiot; either you start speaking or I will be sure to hunt you down and kill you with my lovely collection of knives and daggers I have stored in my apartment. Don't think I won't! I have Caller I.D., " That's a lie, really. I don't have caller I.D., but I am most surely getting a handset with it tomorrow when I go phone-shopping. "And I will make sure that you'll live to regret this day. Start talking before I am the one to hang up, you dolt!"

"Usa, I don't think all those fed-up lies will do the trick. Your threats are empty, useless, and silly. And anyways," I recognize this voice. "—how dare you even talk like that to one of your dearest friends! And you don't have caller I.D., you loot! I was the one that got you the phone, so I should know!" the voice screams. It's Minako. She's the only one that actually talks like this to me, except for Rei, of course, and Makoto from time to time. I wonder why she is callingâ€ Wait. Did she just say she was the one who bought this phone?

"You're the one who bought this phone for me, Mina? When—"

"When you started college, Usa. I got it for you as a birthday gift, remember? Your old phone was bad, and you wanted a new one, so I got it for you. How could you forget, you dodo brain?" she wails. Yep. It's definitely Minako. No one can wail like her. Alas, she shall be wailing even more when I reconcile my kitchen and her. Who knows what kind of surprises I have in store for her. Maybe I'll invite Naru over, too.

"Sorry, Mina. You know me. I always forget things!" I chirp. At least talking to Minako's lightening my mood. I hear her melodic laughter on the other side before speaking,

"Yes, you forget, but I still love you, Usagi." I smile at that. She's so nice when she wants to be, and this is one of the times I need her words. Prank calls are things that can cause a person to lose his, or her, sanity within a blink of an eye. For me at least. "Anywhat, the reason why I called you was to ask you if you wanted to have lunch with me. It's so lonely here by myself and I thought, 'Hey, why not give my favorite girl a call and invite her to come dine with me?' So, here I am!" I raise my eyebrows at that comment. She's up to something. I just know it. Whenever Minako begins acting like this, something's either wrong or she's trying to set someone up with a date again.

I still remember the time when Minako deserted me at this one fancy restaurant called Alte Vienna. I waited for her for twenty minutes and was about to head on home when she called me on my cell. Obviously, I was upset, and I scolded her for being late when she was the one that invited me. Turns out, she had found a date for me, and wanted me to have dinner with him. I felt bad about leaving the poor man by himself, so I caved in to my pitiful emotions and sat through the whole dinner with him. Oh, the misery.

He wouldn't stop talking, and he was too conceited. Seriously, I thought he could pretty much pass as some of those snooty cheerleaders that I met at my school with the way he was talking at a non-stop pace, and the way he kept running his hand through his hair, playing with a few loose strands from time to time. He was too perky and upbeat for a guy. That was what scared me the most.

I got tired of being stuck with the egotistical and girly man, so I stood up, and left him with the pricey bill. On my way out the door, I was almost certain that I heard a high pitched scream and a thud from the table that I was eating at. It made me smile at the mere sight of him passed out on the velvet carpet with the waiters and waitresses fanning him with the burgundy painted menus.

Zoning back to the present, I sigh. "Mina, you better not be setting me up with someone again. If you do, I won't talk to you, nor will I allow you into my apartment when Rei goes crazy with her lighter again."

"Oh, the horror," she says with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. I roll my eyes at that. I hear her voice starting up, "Usa, I don't think I can set you up with any boy. Not after what you did to Maida." Oh, so she does remember that girly man! "But I do need to say this: you need to find yourself a boyfriend, girl. I've never seen you with a boy in almost a decade!"

"That's because all the boys that I've taken a misfortunate liking to were all stupid, suck up jerks that never had a heart or a life to start with. But back to the main point of this call," I add quickly before she could start another one of her infamous lectures on how to find Mr. Right. I relax my shoulders a little and stand to a side, "I'll take up that chance, Mina. Where's the place you want to eat at?"

"Good. At least we're getting somewhere. There's a new place down here, and I want to check it out. It's called Antiquate. I'll pick you up, 'kay?"

"Sure. I just need to get ready." I stop as I listen to the knocking of my apartment door. "Hold up."

"Sure." I walk to the door, and turn the knob, revealing—

"â€Mina" She smiles at me meekly, and talks into her pale, metallic orange mobile. I take a side note of the clothes she chooses to wear for today's shopping bonanza.

She has on an orange colored choker with a small crystal pendant at the center, complementing the cute pale ginger halter top that is lined with a golden satin-like material. She is wearing on a mahogany pleated mini skirt and knee high ebony boots with only a little bit of elevation at the heels. About half an inch, maybe. Only a small portion of her silken hair was clipped back with a huge orange lacey bow. The rest falls around her shoulders and to the small of her back. All in all, it was a cute setup for her, and it suited her figure appraisingly well.

"I'll just wait for you in your living room," she says. I knit my brows together in confusion and smile at her. After letting her in, I hang up the phone, place it in the cradle, and turn to her. Sure enough, I find her gaping at the messy interior of the apartment. "Kamiâ€Usagi," She whirls around to look at me. Her crystalline blue eyes are even wider than usual, her creamy skin drained from her fair face, and her mouth hangs open and vastly enough for a whole colony of bees to rest in for the winter. I wince at her high pitched tone. "I leave you alone for no less than five hours, and you destroy the place! I helped you clean this whole apartment just last week and this is how you repay me?!"

I feel really guilty now. "I ruined this whole place because I was looking for your cordless phone!" is what I want to tell her, but after playing that sentence in my mind, I figure it wouldn't be a wise choice to make. She seems as if she's ready to color me silly with her cosmetics, dress me up in a tutu, place me on top of a totem for the whole world to see me while in that get up, and then kill me with a katana. Instead, my stupid mind functions an "Oops" as an answer to her outburst. Mentally, I kick myself and prepare for the screeches that I will soon face. Shockingly, it never came.

"I'll deal with you later about this. For now, hurry and get ready. I'll help you fix your couch, though," she states in a quaking squeak while shaking her head. A breath of relief escapes my lips as I give her a curt nod, and dash off to my bedroom. I try to swallow down the feeling of remorse, but it's useless. _'Well, there you have it, folks!' _I announce within, dryly, _''Tis, yet, another blunder by the sorrowful Tsukino Usagi!'_

Shutting the door, gently, behind me, I make my way through the maze of bed sheets, files, books, and dirty clothes to my wonderful walk-in closet. Minako didn't tell me whether or not the new diner was a fancy place or not, so I decided to dress in a semi-casual appearance. It doesn't hurt, right?

I change out of my morning rags, which is my cute bunny print pajamas, and into a simple baby blue sleeveless, button down blouse that is accented with lacey white trimmings along the V-cut neckline and the diagonally cut hem, and a pair of boot-cut stretch jeans in a shade of cobalt. To complete the apparel, I add a lovely diamond and ruby jeweled chain belt around my waist, matching with a silver ringlet for my wrist, sapphire studded earrings, and a silver chained necklace with two small pieces of jewels, a pearl and a peridot, as pendants dangling at the hollow of my neck.

As for my hair, I just choose to do something simple with it: a ponytail. My silver-blonde hair flows only down to my upper thighs this way. I leave a few front strands to flow and curl freely at the sides of my face, giving it an appealing outlook and matching my silly getup quite well. I must say, I'm happy with this attire.

I glance at my reflection in my full-length mirror, and keep looking until I'm happy with the look. Adding only a slight hint of lip gloss to my lips, I nod to myself, smile, and bound out the doorway to Minako's dwelling.

"I'm done!" I sing to her, catching her attention with a jolt. Guess I shocked her more than I thought with my messy living room. Smiling at her, I continue, saying, "I'm sorry for the mess, Mina. Someone kept calling me this morning, so I searched for the phone, and, well" I motion the room with my hands. "Apparently, this is what happened during my gruesome quest. I am terribly sorry. I am so happy that you can spare your better time to help someone like me clean my home, and I just come and mess everything up. I'm terrible, I know." I bow my head a little, ashamed to look at her in the eye. "Please don't be mad at me, okay? I'll clean this mess up for sure," I promise.

That seems to do the trick because she comes to me and hugs me while cooing, "Aw, it's quite alright, Usagi. I forgive you. You just owe me," I yelp at this. "And you'll repay me when I ask for it, okay?" I swear, she's up to something. I don't like that look in her pretend angel face. I don't think I'll like the favor either. I give her a wary look, but all she does is smile her little conniving smile. I'm right. She's up to something.

After a bit of bickering about Minako's awful driving skills in the car ride, we finally make it to the dining place safe and sound. Honestly, no matter how much I might love Miss Aino Minako, I can never get over the fact and nightmare that I might as well get ran over by her one of these days. I'm thinking that it's going to be my death day. Still, I don't understand how anyone can tolerate her driving skillsâ€I pity her future husband's and her kids' well being.

"Usa, c'mon! Lighten up, will you? My driving isn't all that terrible, is it?" she coaxes, but when I remained as silent as the still of night, she worries. "Usa? Usa, you still in there?" She taps the side of my head for emphasis. It annoys me.

"I pity your future husband, Minako. No offense, but your driving is soâ€reckless. Sure, it's fun and cool in a way" I trail to a short pause before continuing. Mina's eyes go wide with happiness, and I decide to pop her pretty bubble. "If you choose to die by flying off a cliff and into the depths of the deep blue sea with nothing but the clothes you have on you at that moment." At that, she laughs, loudly. I think a few people are giving us a look, but I don't care. Minako doesn't appear to mind either. We've done so many more embarrassing things before. All my friends have. Even the shy introvert, Mizuno Ami, has.

"Oh, Usa, no need to worry. I'll marry a husband who's driving abilities are far worse than mine. It's not that hard to find, I think. Not sure," she pipes, nonchalantly, and adds to it with a shrug of her defined shoulders. I roll my eyes, and give her an 'and the sky will end up collapsing on us tomorrow' look. This time, she rolls her eyes. "Usa, shut up for once, will you?"

"Sure. We're eating soon, anyway," I tilt my head at the entrance way to the Antiquate restaurant before us. "The line is really short. Lucky for us, huh?"

While nodding her head, she replies with a word of "Yep" and takes hold of my arm with hers. Laughing along the way, we make our way pass the sliding doors of the restaurant and up to the front counter.

"A table for two, please," Minako states. I notice her take a small glance up and down the busboy, and she comments with a wink, "You're kind of too cute to be serving here, aren't you, Sir?" Oh, drat. Mina's in her devil flirting and taunting mode.

"Mina, leave the poor man alone. He doesn't need a girl that doesn't even know the correct way to parallel park without hitting the fire hydrant or newspaper stands to be bothering him," I start, nudging the coy girl next to me. I direct my next words to the blushing amber eyed heartthrob with a gentle grin. "Now do you, Sir?"

"Now, now, ladies. What do I see here? Picking on a helpless lad with your incomparable beautiful faces? That's quite sad, isn't it?" says a deep baritone that I know all too well. The smile that I had on my face just earlier fades away into a menacing scowl. I am sure my eyes are flashing with disgust and abhorrence.

Without even turning around to meet the man that is standing behind us, I mutter, "What's it to you, Mr. Chiba Mamoru? The man here before us is most definitely more charming than fifty of you put together. Cuter, too, may I add, "I chide at the end with a wink that I picked up on from my 'Goddess of Love' comrade. "Don't you have anything else better to do than to bother with us, Chiba? Why don't you go and play with your dolls? I'm sure the women you keep locked up in that poor, stuffy, and all too spacious home of yours are getting quite lonely." I hear Minako stifle a giggle beside me. In a moment all too soon for my liking, I feel a breath against the tip of my ear following a low rumble of a chuckle. I jump a little at the unexpected change of closeness to himâ€especially to him.

"Oh, but this man likes to play with his this 'doll' right here. The others can wait. You're the one I'm after, Usagi," he whispers to me a little too huskily for my taste. His words always sent shivers running through my spine. Albeit, I don't enjoy them at all. Oh, no, no, no. It's all quite the opposite of that belief. I hate it! The nerve of this thick headed man! Not only is he just an egotistical, dimwitted, and tenacious jerk, he's an insensitive womanizing egotistical dimwitted, and tenacious jerk. "So, why not let me tame you, Usa?" I feel his strong arm sliding across my waist to claim a hold of me. My woman's instinct kicks into gear and I elbow him, hard, in the ribs. Then, I squirm away from his reach, but never once turn around to meet his gaze. It would be a fatal error to do such a deed. His expressionless eyes are of such deep cobalt paint. I can't help but get myself lost in them. It's all too weird.

I never feel this way towards any other man but him. But maybe not. The whole female population of Japan seems to be in love with this huge dolt. Oh, but I'm not in love with him, mind you. It's the contrary. I loathe this man with such a passion that even the whole universe can't fill the well of passion that I have in despising this womanizer. Everyday, he always ruins my time with his presence. Just once, I'd like at least a precious and charitable day—a whole day—without him to make my life even more miserable and despicable than it already is. I'm sure it won't be that much of a challenge for him to find a replacement.

"Get lost, Chiba, I have nothing to do with you. Go waste your time on someone else. You sure are wasting mine," I hiss. Glancing at Minako, who seems to be enjoying this too much, I call out to her, "Minako, how much longer do we have to wait here? The precious air is being polluted with the insufferable stench of that—" I motion my head to the giant behind us, disgustedly. "—gigantic lab rat there."

"Miss." I turn my head to the new feminine voice. "Your table is ready. Please, follow me this way." With a slight bow and a gesture of follow with her hands, the waitress escorts Minako and me to our table. Talk about perfect timing, eh? I love people like this. This waitress shall be my new diner acquaintance for she has saved me from further dealing with the chauvinistic pig. The copper haired and emerald eyed waitress smiles kindly at us, and bows once more. "Please, enjoy your meal. My name is Hikaru. If you have any questions or requests, just look for me and I'll be of your service." A gentle nod of her head follows those words. After that, she walks away.

"So," I hear Mina's voice chime in chirpily. I blink at her a couple times and bob my head for her to continue. She rolls her eyes again. "What's happening between you and that Chiba Mamoru, Usagi? Do I hear any distinct wedding bells in the near future?" She wriggles her eyebrows at me, eyes glistening. I couldn't believe my poor ears! Here I am, sitting with one of my best friends, trying to enjoy some time alone with her and the food here, and she's asking me about me and that old coot! Such a sad fate for me, indeed.

"What?! How could you even dare to say such a thing, Aino Minako? You already know how much I hate that—that—" I struggle a little with the right words. "—that stupidâ€womanizing, insufferable, intolerable, chauvinistic, insensitive, careless, reckless—"

"—bastard, poor excuse of a man—nonetheless a human being of this world, or this planet—and so on and so on and yada, yada, yada" my blue eyed twin continues for me, impassively. I just sit there and glare at her. How can she even think such a thing? Me, wedding that bastard rich boy. Ha! How laughable is that? The day I even come close to agreeing with anything that man says shall be the day that, as the old saying goes, pigs fly and roosters bark. Okay, so that's not how the saying goes entirely, but, it does in my proverbial state of mind.

"Mina, darling, how can you possibly think that I shall ever wed him? I don't even like the man at all!"

"Ah, sweets, you do know that saying right?" She watches me with her vividly tinted cerulean eyes. I wait patiently for her to continue, although, it's not really as much as I had with the phone quest. When topics come to revolve around the charlatanistic skunk, my temper is always at a negative zero percent, if not any lower than that. "There's a fine line between love and hate, my dear Usagi. You might say you despise the man, but I doubt that is the real case here."

"Mina, don't you go telling me about love. I told you this before. There's no love for me out there. There isn't. And the line of bad boys that I've encountered before is proof enough," I whisper. It's a painful subject for me to discuss about, but it's something that should be talked about moreover. My clone sighs and her eyes turn into those of sadness and longing. I know what's coming next and I change the topic. I never like it when people try to help me through with my issues. Issues with men in particular.

I pick up the menu that was placed beside us from the start of arriving at our table and babble about how my hunger is starting to morph angels into delicious, tender morsels. It is somewhat true. My double is starting to look like a piece of turkey to me. That earns me an amused laughter and a playful glare that shows her accord with me about my taste for food.

A few moments after we had ordered, my time alone with my dearest and loving doppelganger best friend is interrupted by a rich, low and thundering man's voice. _'Oh, gee, I wonder who that can be.'_ Gripping my glass of water as if it was my stress ball, I force a smile upon my glossed lips. Mina is the first one to speak.

"Oh, Mamoru! It's nice to see you hereâ€ahâ€again. How" She pauses here to take a good look at me. "â€quaint to know that you'll be joining us for lunch, too," she squeaks before earning herself the 'you say anymore and I'll make sure you're dead by the next sunrise' scowl. Once again, the jackass is speaking besides my sensitive ear, thus the reason why I am deepening my scowl and snarling now.

"Well, I'd be more than obliged if this goddess before me—" I know he's talking about me being the goddess. I'll kill him in his sleep with my beautiful Magnum someday. Well, once I can buy a Magnum, that is. I already know what type of model I want. I just need the money to buy it. "—accepts me to dine with you ladies. I'd like to have the pleasure in dining with my favorite queen." I shriek when I feel him nip the sensitive peak of my ear with his alarmingly warm, soft lips. I take a deathly large gulp of my water and settle it back down on the table with a knowingly thunderous boom and clatter, never once releasing the death grip I had on it. Distinctly, I hear and feel the glass cracking in my hold, but I could care less.

"U—Usa?" the twin worriedly piques. "Honey, you okay?" She places her hands on top of mine, then attempts to take the glass away from me. She must be crazy. Can't she see that if she takes it away from me I will be releasing all of Hell and so much more upon the whole restaurant? "How about I ask Hikaru or one of the other people here to refill your glass for you? Just let go" Apparently not.

The glass splits a little more as I clench it tighter. I snarl a nasty one at Minako's attempts and she gets it. I need to apologize to her about this behavior of mine later. How come I always show my ugly side whenever he's around? He's like a plague that won't cease to torture me nor allow me to escape the pain by reason of death. What does he want from me anyway?

Finally, my savior comes—Hikaru and our meals. "Um, here are your orders, Miss—"

"Thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!" I interrupt, shamelessly. Sure, I know it is a rude trait to interrupt others, but what can I say? I am hungry, and I am on the verge of losing my mind because of the bigot behind me. I prod him again in the sternum part of his body. He backs off, but only a little. At least he isn't as close to be as before, right? It's improvement. It's so nice to see that this boy is learning how to obey my commands. Now, if only he can do that all the time

Clearing his throat, he speaks, "Well, seeing that you two have your meals now, I'll leave you two at peace. How about that?" I look up at him, but am surprised by what I see. In the year that I've known him, I've never seen his beautiful eyes show the expression he is showing now. It's a little clouded over, holding some emotion I can't pinpoint exactly. I take a deeper peek into his cobalt orbs, but as soon as I try to determine the feeling that is within them, it disappears. They change right back to his heartless ones.

'_What the hell?'_ I think, annoyed. _'That's the first time I saw him like this. What's he hiding?'_ Without thinking, I reply to his comment, "Yes, go on and leave us alone. You must be dining alone today, right? That's got to be a first, eh? I swear, everywhere you go, there are women clinging on each of your arms, you bigot." That earns a cocky smirk from him to me. He leans in to me, and hums to me in that tantalizing tenor of his,

"I wouldn't be like that if I get a hold of you, my dear Usagi," and then he takes his seat behind me. Something about that comment shakes me up. For some odd reason or another, I feel disturbed and appalled, but I also feelâ€ I feel relieved and a little bit happy. Is that natural? I should be angry, right? I should be disgusted, right? It's the womanizing demonic beast we're talking about here. Right?

I find myself peering at his back, broad and sturdy shoulders, and trimmed and proper ebony black hair. This man earns my utmost dislike of men like him for more than one reason. One is a given fact already. He loves to taunt me and humiliate me beyond belief. Two is because he confuses me beyond any logical reasoning. Three is because he makes me feel as if I'm weak and pathetic compared to him. I hate it when men try to show and act like they are the superior being that God has created. Four is basically a repeat of three, but more general. I hate the very fact that he makes me feel anything about him at all!

"You find my back attractive, Usagi?" I hear a teasing voice call out to me, snapping me out of my daze. I find myself gazing into mischievous dark blue eyes. For some odd reason, I find myself wanting to fall even more deeper into them. I feel a slight flush of heat upon my cheeks. I know I am blushing. God, I hate him.

Without saying a word to him, I twist around and grab the fork that rested on my napkin. Mumbling a few curses under my breath, I play with my noodle dish a little before I start to eat. I hear a conspicuous chuckle of that voice I dread so much. I can still feel his eyes on me, too. Oh, why me? Why must I be tormented like this? By a man like those perverted lechers even?

"Mina, what do you want to do after eating here?" I say, trying to sound casual and trying to forget about the man with the impish gaze still on by back. I swear, he better turn around or else my fork will be the last thing he'll ever see.

"I don't know. I'm done with my shopping for today, so how about we just go and see what's up at the bistro?" Mina replies, much to my pleasure. I smile.

"So Mako's really at her shop, huh? You sure that's a good idea? You do remember what happened the last time, right?" I hint with a smirk.

"Oh, Usa, you can be so cruel at times. I told you, that was an accident! It's not my fault Makoto didn't tell me about the new manager," she whines to me. That remark deserves a laugh. The last time we were at Makoto's small shop, we faced a littleâ€problem.

A few weeks ago, my bold twin came over to my apartment, and woke me up a little too early for my liking. She woke me up at 9:00. Yet, another one of her shopping sprees she wanted to take me on was in her agenda for the day. I agreed after a couple moments of persuasions on her behalf, so we headed out to Mako's bistro to see if she wanted to tag along. All the other girls were busy with their own things. It wouldn't hurt if Makoto left her boyfriend to run the place for a few hours, right?

The sight we were greeted by at the street of the shop startled us and worried us. There was some man all dressed in black and carrying some bags with him, picking the lock of her bakery's door. This is such a cliché, is it not? Obviously, we had to take action for one of our dear friends. Mina was the first one to act, however, and it wasn't a pretty sight. She beat him up. I called Mako on her cell phone to see how she would like to deal with the situation.

When she came, she nearly fainted. She did, sadly enough, start hallucinating and nearly cried. It was a little later that my double and I learned that it was her new manager, Irata Yuki. She had hired him about a month ago, but we didn't know about him, and he was supposed to open the store that day. Why was he picking the lock? Easy. He lost his copy of the bistro's key.

Boy, did our brunette pal get mad. She's the toughest one of us five girls, so there's no doubt about the very verity that she could kill us with one move if she wanted to. Alas, we ran for our lives and didn't cross her path for about two weeks. After countless apologies and gifts of amnesty, she forgave us. The manager, however, didn't. I think he still works at Makoto's café, but he's scared of us now. Ken, the co-owner of the place and also Makoto's man, had a field day with it. It's amazing that we, twins, haven't formulated a plan to assassin him yet. After all, we have to destroy all traces of that embarrassingly dangerous day, right?

"Hey, Mina, do you think it's a good idea? After all, you wouldn't want to traumatize the poor boy with your face again. Or do you?" I hint, slyly, towards her, nudging her ribs lightly.

"Usagi! You're insufferable," the twin complains and sniffs. I laugh even more. Who says I don't know how to push the right buttons?

"But of course! You think after all those years of being teased in high school wouldn't make me this way?" I counter. With one last scoop of her strawberry flavored ice cream, we finish our meal and wait for the bill to come. She leans back in her seat, lazily, and flashes me her movie star smile.

"But of course," she mimics me, and continues her sentence after widening into a grin of suspicion, "Odango Atama." Oh, damn it all. That was the nickname I went by for so long during my younger years because of the peculiar hairstyle I fashioned.

It was two balls that I made from my hair on either side of my head with all my excess hair flowing down from them. It's basically pigtails with spherical twisted hair to hold them in place instead of the use of hair ties.

"Damn you, Aino," I growl. She laughs at my sudden change in moods, and then sighs.

"Oh, Usa, you already know just how much I love to tease you, don't you? Sorry if I got you mad. But it's a cute nickname! I think so at least."

"Ha ha," I laugh, sardonically. "Try being called that throughout high school, and college by a shortly fused fire-freak in a not so affectionate way. Daily, too, if I can add."

"As I said, there's a fine line between love and hate, Usagi. Remember that."

"Hate, I understand. Love? Ha! Don't make me laugh. I don't believe in such things, Mina. You know that already." Oops again. I let that slip from me so easily today. How odd. My blonde companion in front of me slowly dips her head.

"Ah, so I do" she trails off with a knowing and sad look in her crystal orbs. At least it's not pity or sympathy. "But I wish someone, if not me or any of us can help you with your pain, Usa. You're my best friend. A sister even. Seeing you hurt to the point you lost your faith in love, it hurts—" No mushy business at this moment! No mushy business in a restaurant!

"Minako, it'll be fine. We've talked about this before, so you should know my reason, right?" She answers me with a curt nod of her head. I manage a broad smile and go on with my talk. "Then don't be so worried. That goes the same with everyone else, too. I got hurt and I'm taking my own time to heal. Toâ€justâ€healâ€ I haven't lost faith in love." I just don't want to believe in it anymore. "All you have to do, Mina, is to be there for me. That'll be enough. Don't encourage me into something I'm not ready for and it's more than enough."

"Usa, you didn't just get hurt!" she cries out in outrage. I shake my head, causing her to pause with her comeback. Taking her hand in mine, I say as I look reassuringly into her blue eyes,

"Mina, just believe me," I maintain my smile, despite how much my body was against it, and give her a heartening squeeze. She calms down after that.

The check comes a while after the uncomfortable silence we, or more like I, created. We decide to split the pay and then head off to the bistro in silence. I forgot that the jerk was sitting behind us at the restaurant, meaning he had overheard our conversation about the whole 'love' issue. Ah, such a position the gods have placed me under. Hopefully he wasn't paying attention to us. If he was, I know I won't live it down. Just great. Another burden to overcome and killâ€if necessary.

The rest of the day was fun pretty much. Without the occasional dwelling of my past, that is. Makoto had said that she was able to join us to "explore the city," as we have done so many times now. She left the shop in the hands of her boyfriend and had threatened him to no end with a simple "If you dare allow this shop to collapse into ruins, I, Kino Makoto, will be sure to have you dead by the time of midnight tonight, Love." He had to agree to that, and took an oath even! My Mako can be so harsh at times. But then again, who isn't? She loves the shop with her life. Those kinds of actions of hers are expected. Defend those things that you love, right?

It's nighttime now. Probably around 10 o'clock if I'm correct by the look night sky. Ah, well. I'll retire early for tonight. Walking around and racing from place to place around the metropolis is tiring, you know?

I slip out of my day clothes and step into the shower. Afterwards, I brush my teeth like any hygienic person would do, change into my comfy and wonderful blue bunny nightie, and plop down on my twin sized bed. I'm so happy I bought the downy comforters and pillow; it's so soft and comfortable.

I perceive sounds of a cat near my balcony. Luna's here. "Guess she wants in now." Humming, I get up and away from my secure divan and slide open the gallery a little for the black feline to slip through. She meows and purrs at me as a "Welcome home and thank you."

Smiling, I waltz back to my lonely twin bed and fly onto it. I hug my pillow close to me after wrapping the covers around my body. A slight impression resides on the edge of my bed.

"Hey, Luna. You going to sleep with me today?" I tease her. She responds with another meek mewl, staring at me with her sparkling mauve painted orbs. I turn off my lamp light, kiss my kitty on her furry head, and then close my eyes, hoping for the sand man to come and claim me soon. No luck. "Lucky tomorrow's a Sunday" I grumble with my eyes half open.

I turn to face the ceiling and stare at it while letting my thoughts dwindle elsewhere. Sadly enough, my brain decides to wander to the man with ebony locks, bitter yet tauntingly arresting night tinted eyes, and alluring rose lips. "Ah, curse you, brain," I groan. Out of all people, why do I keep thinking about that Chiba Mamoru? My mind flashes back to the time at the restaurant. The time he nipped at my ear.

Doing a 180 turn on my bed, I wind up face down, into my pillow and scream. My body reacts in recollection of the warmth he sent racing through me when his pleasantly warm lips and breath pressed against my ear. It starts to heat up and I feel my cheeks flush again with excitement, embarrassingly enough. My heart starts to race and sting for some odd reason. I don't even know why. I don't understand why this man could make me feel like this.

His caresses leave marks on my body somehow. I can still feel his lips on my ear and his arm around my waist. My body recalls the very places that were pushed against his own. It was so warm and firm. _'No doubt that he works out,' _I find myself commenting before mentally kicking myself in the head for judging such things.

I put a finger to my temple. Sure enough, the thumping of it was there, quicker and harder than usual. "Curse him." He's the only one, out of all the guys in the world that I know of, that can ever make this tempo course through the veins in my body. He's the only one that can ever make me this flustered about the male species and I hate him, with my life, for that.

'_I take hold of the chains _

_That bind me to my fate,_

_And with my bare hands, _

_I break them._

_How was I to know, then,_

_That the consequences_

_For such acts of freedom _

_Were to be dire?_

_Must I pay for those_

_That I've lost before?_

_Was it truly my fault?_

_Was it, really?_

_The nagging feeling _

_Still thumps, wildly,_

_Against my skin,_

_Tapping the veins.'_

T.B.C.


	2. Chapter 1

His Lingering Caress

Written by: L. Amari Espris

Chapter One

Bold and Daring

"Explain to me, please, why I am here again?" I manage to squeak as I stare at the huge office building before me. I strain my neck to see the very edge of the edifice, but little success was made from that. In spite of this, I know that somewhere near the top, it reads with enormous, bold letters, "Chiba Corp." Damn his birthright. Damn him and his wealth. Damn this man for building such a huge structure. Damn him in being so intelligent and talented. Damn himâumâah, just damn him in everything he does!

"Because, Usa, you have a meeting with him in less than an thirty minutes, and you can't afford to be late for it either," my intellectual companion states. "Thus, the reason why you're early," I glance at her with eyes wide and teary, I presume, and sniffle out the next words,

"But, Ami, do I have to do this by myself? Can't you come with me? I don't want to be stuck, alone, in a conference room, with an undomesticated baboon like him!" I clutch onto my briefcase a little tighter as I glance back to the ridiculously immense building. Why the hell would he even want a place this big? It's just a workplace like any other. I muffle my urge to scream a 'Bloody Murder' again when I hear an aggravated complaint from my azure haired friend.

"Because, Usagi, this is your business meeting. Not mine. Also, I have to head back to the hospital now. And don't worry about getting any diseases or fatal illnesses from him. I'm sure he has gotten his shots," she adds, sarcastically. Oh, Ami, why now? What happened to all the love we have shared for one another? Why do you betray me, my darling comrade?

"Even if he's gotten his shots, I still don't like the idea of him and me being alone," I sniff with a hoity-toity attitude. "You really can't stay with me, Ami? My caring and loving best friend who will stick with me through thick and thin? And through times when I have to face the devil and his minions myself?" I whine. I whimper and pout, but it is useless. She sees right through me, and laughs. Oh, drats, she knows me too well.

"Usa, you still got it. Even after all these years, you still know how to whine and pout to the point that I become cowardly around you, but I'm not falling for it this time. I really have to go back to the hospital, Usagi. Now, suck it up, storm up to that building, enter it, go to his floor, and demand the meeting with—erm—the devil himselfâ Make it like the ones that will leave him breathless, Usa!" she encourages me. It doesn't help that much, but it's comfortingâa little.

"'Leave him breathless,' huh? So I can kill him?" I comment, monotonously. Ami chuckles at this and pats my back, sighing.

"If he refuses you, then you can kill him. But for now, just try to get through the meeting, okay? I know you can do it. I'll be cheering for you all the way, Usa. Now, get!" she says as her pager goes off. Yep, no doubt. I shall be facing with the stuck-up bastard myself. This is justâgreat.

"Traitorâdeserter" I mumble under my breath, glaring daggers at the blue colored girl. But, mind you, I do appreciate her words of support. It really is meaningful to me. She knows that, too, for she smiles and starts to head off to her sedan that is parked a few paces away. Ah, alas, I bid thee farewell, my love.

"I love you too, Usa," she chuckles while walking away from me, deserting me in front of Chiba Corp. "Later, okay?" I manage a teary smile and call out to her.

"See you later, then. And thanks." She reaches her car, and I watch as she enters it, inserts the key, and the whole enchilada. Finally, she drives off to meet the freeway. Groaning, I say, forlornly, "Here goes nothingâ I knew I should've worn sneakers instead of these three-inch heels." I grumble and begin my climb up the weary steps. No joke about that. Just the walk from the bottom of the steps of the building to the entrance to the lobby is pretty much a hike. "I'll be an old lady by the time I reach his office! If I'm not already dead, that is."

Glancing down at my watch to read the time, I heave, yet, another sigh. I've finally conquered that extreme ascend of those dangerous steps and entered the foyer now. It's 2:34 p.m. Before I had started the steps, it was 2:25. I only have fifteen more minutes until the evil conference. Gods, I am going to kill that insolent Chiba. If I'm late, it's his entire fault.

"Excuse me, Miss," a voice calls out to me, interrupting me from my thoughts. "May I help you?" I stare into the direction of the voice, and see a pair of beautiful green eyes. I know who those eyes belong to. I commence to open my mouth to greet him, but he beat me to it. "Usagi! What are you doing here?" I smile as he pulls me into a big bear hug.

"Hi, Motoki. I'm here for a meeting with the bigot here," I roll my eyes before starting again. "I'm glad to see you here, Motoki. How's your wife? Anything I should know about?" I hint. He flushes, much to my amusement, and scratches the back of his head. After glancing around the lobby for any suspicious and watchful eyes, he speaks.

"Reika is doing fine. She misses you, though, so you better call her when you get back home. And as for the news" he fades away, leaving me in great suspense. I raise my eyebrows at him, beckoning to continue. Seeing none but a deepening of his redness, I beam.

"Good to hear, Motoki! Out of all the people that I know, you've taken the longest in—ah—well," I hesitate for the right words, and whisper the next part, "having children with your lovely wife. Took you long enough! How long has it been?"

Chuckling, he replies a hardy, "Three weeks. We are so happy to be having this child. Everything's been settled and it's good to be able to settle down for sure at this point in time. We're going to have a new soul with us, Usa." I smile at him, warmly, at that remark.

"You deserve it, Motoki. I know for a very sure fact that your baby will love life with all of his, or her, heart." He laughs at that and I join in shortly after. "When were you two planning to tell me the news, though? Three weeks and no one's told me a thing!" I ask after a brief silence for ourselves to catch our breath.

"Well, we haven't told anyone yet. We're planning a surprise announcement within a month's time. It's a better way to publicize things after all." I chuckle.

"That's true. So, I'm the first one you've told?" I sneak at him. He chuckles again and nods his dull tinted blonde head. I squeal with happiness at this. At least I'm able to get something good out of this dreaded day, right? "I'm happy about that! At least I'm the first and not the last now. Congrats, Motoki! I wish you all the best. You know that." I tug him into another hug, and planted a gentle, harmless kiss on his cheek on impulse. So, we received a few stares from the people in the foyer. Big deal. It's not as if I'm in love with this old, married coot. "Tell Reika I said, 'Hi,' okay? I have to leave for my meeting now."

"Sure thing. See you, Usagi." We start to walk our separate ways: me to the elevator, and him to the entrance door for his lunch break, I guess. Quickly, I spin around and add,

"I won't tell a soul, Motoki. Don't worry about it." I wink at him, a playful smile resting on my lips. I see his shoulders relax a little more, and he winks back. At least he trusts me about not spoiling a secret. A big one, too.

The ding of the elevator signifies my arrival to the 34th floor of Chiba Corp. I wait, patiently, for the doors to open. Once it does, I exit and begin my search for his office. It shouldn't be that hard to find, right? Boy, am I wrong! All the offices look the same. It gives me a headache and a trauma just looking at them. Snarling, I head to the front desk of the floor and ask the girl there for directions.

"The last door to your left," she directs as she points to the area of Chiba's office. I force a smile while replying a simple thank you to her and head off to search for his office once more. Taking another fleeting glimpse down at my silver watch, I nearly melt in amidst my march. I only have four minutes before the meeting starts.

"Damn it!" I quicken my pace, and barge into the office with the title "Chiba Mamoru, Owner" only to be greeted with a big busted female with crimson tresses, cruel-looking sage eyes, and full maroon painted lips. _'Seems to me like she has too much foundation on,'_ I ruminate, disgustedly. _'Under all that makeup, I assume she's a beast.'_ I walk up to her desk. I wait for her to take notice of me and let me through those big white doors behind her. It didn't work. She didn't even bother to look up from her magazine. "Kami," I mutter under my breath. I clear my throat in another attempt to be noticed. Still didn't work. Gods, does she need hearing aids or something? I'm late for a meeting because of her now! I clear my throat again, only louder this time. Still, no use. If those won't work, speaking might. "Excuse me," I say in a loud, demanding voice. I won't even bother to hold back my anger. She looks up finally, but with an angry look in her eyes. What's her problem?

"What is it?" she barks at me with her thick voice. I blink in surprise and revulsion. How rude can a person get? "Well? What do you want?" she asks again, harsher this time. Wow, she even has a nastier temper than Rei when she's being a bitch head.

"I'm here for a meeting with Mr. Chiba Mamoru. Can you please tell him that I'm here? It's supposed to be starting now." Without saying a thing to me, she pushes a button on the phone at her desk.

"Yes? What is it?" inquires the masculine voice. Immediately, I feel my breath catch in my throat, my blood level rising and pounding at an even larger pace than normal. Trying to regain my composure, I grip the handle of my briefcase more firmly than necessary.

"There's someone here to see you, Mamoru," she half bites and slurs in a husky tone. So, she's on a first name basis with this freak. What a surpriseâ Notâ I wouldn't be shocked if she's one of his sex toys, too. For some reason, though, a sharp sting comes to torment a place in my chest at the mere thought. A falling plunge in the stomach follows suit. How weird. Why am I feeling this?

"What's their name, Miss Amaide?" Chiba asks the bitch in front of me. She shoots a glare at me and we lock eyes. My gaze never wavering from hers, I reply for her with my name. I can see her claws bared at me in great abhorrence. Wow, I make enemies fast, huh? It's amazing. "Come on in, Usagi. Oh, and need I say that—" I hate him. "—you're late" He shall pay for this humiliation and tolerance with this red headed freak of nature. "âOdango." Oh, yes. He shall be castrated and pitiful to all eyes of the worldâif I ever find the right guts to do such a messy and discriminating deed. I give a hearty smirk at the phone before stomping off again to the white doors behind the bitch, 'Miss Amaide.' She doesn't seem all too thrilled with the idea. Oh, joy. I suppose I'll make her even more fury swiped by walking through them, which I am doingânow. Ah, there we have it. It's the sounds of the demons being let loose.

Upon entering the chauvinistic mandrill's cavern, I am prepared to yell at him, but instead, I'm welcomed with a beautiful sight of the city of Tokyo, Japan. It is such a spectacular view, and I marvel at it. I persist on staring at the magnificent sight, taking it in as much as I can. Too bad it is interrupted by two strong, steel-like arms encircling my waist, pulling me a little from my place. Enter the boar.

"You're late for the meeting, Usa," he whispers to me in his deep and rough baritone of a voice. I suck in a deep breath, resisting my sudden urges to sink into his embrace and also from strangling him. That can come after the deal. "How about a little payment to me for it?" He nibbles my earlobe a little, and I freak, mentally and physically. With my rock hard elbow, I stab him in the core of his abdomen. He releases his hold on me as I squirm to the other side of the room, away from the beastly him and from the sensations coursing through my veins.

"I apologize for my tardiness, Mr. Chiba, but believe me when I say that I can't and won't be sincere or humble when I say that you're barking up the wrong tree. I am not flattered by your treatment of me/ I am appalled, really. You're nothing to me, Mr. Chiba," I state, boldly and lowly. At least I have his attention. "Thus, I shall not tolerate such behavior from you, Sir.

"I am here for nothing more than a business proposition with you. If you continue to choose to harass me, I will, without hesitation, report you and break this deal." His eyes display a hint of amusement within them, annoying me beyond belief. I glare daggers at him, my eyes swimming with the blazing inferno I have developed from my loathing of him, I'm hoping!, and continue, seeing that I have his full attention. "Consider this a warning, Chiba. Don't you dare doubt me for a second.

"Oh, and for something off the record," I narrow my eyes, but never leaving his own. "It's about your secretary—Miss Amaide, is it? She needs an attitude adjustment. As I see it, with her being your wonderful bitch and pleasure toy, I think you can persuade her to behave, right?" Ah, so this is how it feels like to have an ego boost! I'm savoring this moment. His eyes darken slightly, causing fear to strike me but only for a second and no more. Smirking at him, I stroll over to his large desk and seat myself in the chair for the guests, my little snout high in the air.

"Watch your mouth, Tsukino. I don't think you'd want to lose this deal," I hear him say near my ear. His voice is dangerously low, with venom seemingly dripping off of his every word. Ah, so this is the sensation of one's ego dropping. Such a shame. "And for something off the record," he mimics me, "I can tame her. Quite well, too. But I won't. I only want to tame you, my Usako." That nickname he gave me. Oh, how much I dread it. He's been calling me that ever since those last few months of working with him at his apartment and I despise it. Even when he calls me Usa I still hate it. What's with it with him teasing me?

"Chiba, I'm warning you," I hiss with my deepest voice, glaring at him with all the hatred I could muster from within me. "I'm warning you for the last time. Don't you dare call me that name, Chiba Mamoru. You don't deserve that right and you never will. And also, you won't have me. I'm sure of it. Give it up and go crawling back to your harem. They're growing desperate without you there, Chiba," I sing to him, a death threat hanging off of each syllable that I utter.

"We'll see, now won't we?" he inquires a little all too assertively to my liking. "Maybe I'll even have you crawling to me, but then again, maybe not." I just growl at him, my anger and disgust clearly radiating from my petite form. Once again, if looks could kill, I'd be sure he is at least six feet under. He chuckles at little and gets up from his place behind me. I watch him like a hawk as he circles around me and then crosses to the other side of the desk. He's so lucky he has a desk to separate us right now. A slight groan of the wooden handled chair that I reside in distracts me from my plotting of death of him, unsurprisingly. Turns out, I am gripping onto this chair with everything I got. How do I do these sorts of unusual things without knowing it?

"Damn it all," I muster silently. I think he heard me though.

"Let's get down to business, then. Shall we?" he teases with a smirk and wink. For sure; he heard me. Damn him and his kind to the depths of the unforgivable lands of Hell.

He was rational and tolerable throughout the whole meeting between us. Guess he turned himself on to 'businessman mode.' He's too much of a puzzle to me, but it's not a puzzle that I'd like to put together, really. We talked like two normal humans for once, without any snide remarks or threats from me to him and vice versa, and both of us were happy as the result. We both accepted the other's offer, made the deal, set the date, and, viola! We're done with the two of us happy and satisfied. I hate to admit it, but when he's in this type of mood, he's good and comfortable to talk to. Oh, but I still hate him with a passion. It's not like my feelings are changing towards him just because he's more charming to talk to as a stranger than anything else. Yep. It's definitely not that simple for a girl like me.

"Well, Miss Tsukino," the deep blue eyed charmer says while standing up. A few of his raven locks fall into his, eyes giving him an unnatural and heavenly look. I defy my bodily senses in reaching out to brush them out of the way, and stood up with him, smiling. "I hope to see more of you in the future. It's been a pleasure doing business with you, Miss." He sticks out his large hand for me to shake, and I accept while saying,

"Likewise, Mr. Chiba. I'm glad with the outcome of this meeting. I know you are, too." I give him a true, genuine smile of happiness with those words. Once again, I see the shimmer and distant look in his eyes. Alas, the infamous emotion that always sends me into turmoil and uncertainty. I shrug the thought away, though, when he holds my hand in place a little too long. I feel his thumb gently kneading my tenderly delicate skin, following a soft but firm wring. It sent chills running up and down my spine. Before I can complain, he relieves my poor hand and that look disappears again.

"Yes, I am," is all he says before smiling at me. I know it's a fake, though. The smile never reached his eyes. Albeit, they're unreadable, but even with those dead orbs, his true smiles would show in them. I've been around him long enough, which is a scary thought, to know so. "Have a nice evening, TsukinoâUsagi."

"You too, Chiba." After giving him a curt nod and bow, I exit his office. He's really the leading enigmatic, egotistical, bigot and player that I know of in this country. Without looking at the whore's counter, I say, with a great amount of pride defined in it, "Good evening to you, Miss Amaide." She scowls.

Containing my leer, I continue my walk out the office, down the hall, and to the elevator. There, I free my longing smile of a simple ego boost. This was a good one, too, not a terrible selfish one. Ah, how many ego boosts have I tasted today? Well, two I think. Or is that only one? Ah, well, who cares? All I know is that I'm feeling rather happy with myself right now. A little bit of self-esteem boost never hurts anybody, right?

"How do I get myself into these kind of things?" I find myself droning. Honestly, I'm guessing that the only good thing that happens to me today is meeting Motoki and him telling me the news of him and Reika. Yep. My life is too sad.

"Because you love us and you would do anything for us," chides a perky Minako.

"Just like we would do for you, Usa," adds the fiery Rei. Oh, I forgot the mention that little detailâ She's back from her trip. She came back around three or four days ago.

"Remind me to never do any of you favors anymore," I cry as I stare at the four girls in front of my sight. Each of them are dressed in clothes that are somewhat revealing, but conservative still, and all à la mode. They look like a group of models.

And where are we now? One of the places that I hate, but that I love: a night club. I hate it for the stupid bastards that we tend to encounter while dancing in there, but I love it becauseâwell, reason is obvious: it's dancing! It's a nice way to relax, too, and meet new people. You can choose either to keep that person or throw them away. That is only in my opinion at least. The place we are at now is a new one, though. It's called Satin Petals, Club S.P. for short. The girls wanted me to tag along with them to this new one, so here I am! Ah, the things I would do for them

"Usagi, Minako, Makoto, Ami, Rei! We're over here!" a voice calls out to us. All of us turn to see Kumada Yuuichiro, Rei's boyfriend, standing at a booth in the bar not that far away from us, waving his arms frantically in the air. Along with him are Ken, Urawata Ryo, and Yaten from the Three Lights, a very popular band in Japan right now. I still can't believe that Mina is dating him, but if she's happy, then it's all just dandy.

We amble on over to them, each of the girls standing next to their love and me by myself, but I don't mind. I don't feel like bringing anyone. I've been fine on my own so far.

Ken leans down to give the brunette a peck on the lips. Yuuichiro does the same to Rei before she grabs either side of his head to give him a full kiss. Aiyah. She knows how to take hold of a situation well, eh?

Ami and Urawata just stand there, blushing. I smile at that. Even after all these years, they still act as if they just realized that they had feelings for one another; it's too cute.

Unfortunately, Mina and Yaten are too busy making out in the corner of our booth to notice any of us in any way possible.

While rolling my eyes and shaking my head, I veer away from the couples to scan the dance floor. I cross my arms as if to be in deep thought and scan the place with my judging eyes.

The place doesn't seem too shabby. The music's nice and so is the lighting of the club. It's dim and gloomily lit, naturally, but it has a certain atmosphere that makes this particular night club magical and addictive. Yep. I like it already. Nodding my head in approval, I turn back to the group when I hear one of them call my name. They, in exception of the two geniuses, are still cuddling and kissing. Who could have called me then?

"Hey there, Usa," creeps a voice behind me. Speak of the devilâ "What brings you here? And by yourself?" Damn this man for being observant as well. I plaster a smile on my features and unhurriedly rotate in my place to set eyes on his finely chiseled features. Oh, damn it. I look straight into his eyes again. "Do I have something on my face that you like, Usa?" he wittingly mocks. Curse him, Kami.

"Yes, actually, but it's not anything that I like. Quite the opposite. I don't like your face. It's tooâcold and callous for my taste," I imply. _'Leave me alone, you womanizing man whore,'_ I think to myself. If I ever call him that in public, I will get eaten after getting beaten to an extra fine pulp. I see his face darken a little, but, as usual, it returns to normal before I can say anything more about it. I notice a certain red headed vermin clinging onto his arm now. What do we have here? Miss Amaide, huh?

Another sharp pain shoots all the way through my heart, but I ignore it to the best of my ability (it isn't much right now).

"Hey, Chiba, how about you ignore the klutz here and return to treating that rat on your arm? I'm sure she needs more attention than I do. Remember the little talk we had this morning? I'm sure you do, so I'll leave you alone to work your magic, boy." Before neither of them could say anything to me, I whisk around, sauntering off to the bartender. In a lively manner, I order a Piña Colada. Can't hurt for some little alcohol, right? I am of age, too.  
"I'd like the same as this woman here," an unfamiliar tenor beckons to the bartender. I turn my head to the side to see who the owner of the voice is and meet up with a lovely pair of forest painted eyes and golden light hair. Wah, such a pretty boy. Literally.

"Haruka! You can't get drunk tonight!" another voice calls out. This time, it's for sure a feminine one. A beautiful lady with aquatic waves and cerulean eyes comes running up to us and takes a hold of the other person's, Haruka if I'm correct, arm. She looks so graceful. Surely, this is a match made in heaven. They're perfect for each other. I smile at them.

"Ah, Michiru, you're no fun. Just one drink and that'll be it, okay? Please?" the blonde one begs.

"Haruka, really! If you get drunk again I will just leave you here for the dogs to prey on."

"You're too harsh," Haruka whines.

"You know I have to be, sweetie."

"Much to my dismay," was the flaxen's grumbled remark. Their little banter is too cute and I can't help but laugh. They notice me and I apologize, and then explain myself.

"Sorry, it's too cute. You two are perfect for one another. It's nice to see people like you two nowadays," I blushingly ramble. The two of them take their time to comprehend what I just said, and then burst out in laughter. I blink at them, not understanding the joke.

"Oh, no, sorry. There's nothing wrong with your answer, sweetie," the aquatic one laughs. Haruka finishes for her.

"We do get that a lot. It's a good feeling, reallyâjustâah" She hesitates in her words with an apparent red lining in her cheeks. She leans closer to me, much to my surprise and Michiru's interest, and whispers the next words in my ear. "I'm really a girl" That is a breather.

"Oh my. I'm sorry! I didn't know, but you two areâah—" I clear my throat, blushing profusely. "âlovers, right? I don't really see anything wrong with that. As I've said, you two are perfect for one another, hearts and looks." The two of them gawk at me, and then smile a charming and attractive smile. At least I didn't klutz out for this one. It appears that I've said the right words.

"Thank you," is the reply from Michiru. She really is a beauty to behold. Haruka, now that I come to look at her again and more closely, really is a female. Her features are similar to a girl's, but it's just her style that makes her like a man's. Interesting thing I've happen to come across.

"It's only the truth, Miss," I smile at the lovers. I hear, from a distance, another female shouting out to me. "Well, I'd like to stay and chat with you two, but I have to leave now. I hope to see you two again someday!" I give a slight bow to them, and leave with my drink, which has just arrived . Talk about perfect timing. I jog over to my friends' booth. Much to my dismay, we have an extra, no, two extra guests there. Guess who?

"Usagi! Where were you?" Mina queries. I take a seat away from the two adversaries of mine and next to my twin and the cook. I wave my drink in the air as if it is the answer to everything. It is, practically, the answer to where I've been. Minako squeals in awe and asks for a sip of my beverage. Smiling, but still remaining silent, I pass her my Piña Colada. She takes it from my and drinks it happily.

"Hey, Mina, don't drink too much. You don't want to be drunk tonight. You're the one who's driving us back home!" the pyromaniac chides as she takes a seat next to me. Makoto nods her head in agreement as well as Ami, who is standing behind my alter ego.

"Recap my memory for me, please," I question to the girls. "How did we end up having Minako as our driver for tonight? I have a slight feeling a car crash shall commence soon after we leave this club." That deserves a kick from under the table from the offended. I wince in pain, but regain my composure to kick her back, playfully. "Aw, I don't mean that in a bad way, Mina. You know I love you."

"We all do, but your driving's reckless," Rei states matter-of-factly. Leave it to the psychic to be cruelly blunt.

"Where have I heard that before"

"Just last week if I can recall." I lean forward to prop my head up with my hands, elbows on the table. I grin when Mina makes a cute puppy face.

"You two are sad, you know that?" Minako whines. She takes another sip from my snifter, draining half of its contents now.

"Mina, you just drained half of that in a gulp," Ami observes, worry and panic clearly evident in her voice. We all agree with her with our silent gapes. Minako sticks her tongue out at us and continues to drain my alcoholic drink. Is she trying to kill herself? Or better yet, does she want to kill us?

"That's it! Usagi, you're driving us back. With Mina like this, I do not trust her with the steering wheel," complains Rei before the rest of us can say something about Mina's unbelievable alcohol consumption. Once more, the girls nod their heads in agreement with my raven haired feline companion, much to my disappointment.

Stuttering a little, I bite back. "Hold it! I had to drive you girls home the last time we were at a club! Then, you guys end up wrecking my apartment because you psychos were all deathly drunk. I am not facing that again! Oh, no. I agree that Mina shouldn't be driving us back, but choose someone else, not me! Don't I deserve a little fun?" Silence is my answer. Damn them all to Hell.

"Odango Atama, " Rei starts out. I'll kill her when I get the chance to. She begins her reasoning with the words, "your driving is, with the exception of Ami here, the best out of us group of five. The guys came with Ken in his car and Urawata came by himself. Ami has to go back for her shift in a while with him, leaving you in charge with us. You understand, right?" Ah, damn her and her logic. She should just stick with her sacred fire readings. This isn't fair.

"Why don't you drive, Pyro? Your driving's better than Mina's—" I hear a "Hey!" coming from the twin. "—and I had to take care of all of you last time. You especially. You were the most drunk out of all of them, idiot," I growl, pointedly at Rei.

"Hey, I had a right to get drunk—"

"—until the point you threw up and stunk like an oversized skunk! Seriously! You funked up my whole place with your mind-boggling stench." That part's true, but it was also because of Minako. She ranked second place, first being Rei, in the most highly drunk female out of us five.

"What about all the other girls, Odango?" Ah, curse it all.

"Don't call me that!" I whine at the top of my lungs. Oh, Kami, please grant me the power to kill!

"Why not, Odango? I've called you that ever since I've first met you. It's my name for you, Odango Atama!" The both of us stand up from out seats at our booth and start the notorious bantering again.

"No it's not, you Pyro-freak!"

"I'm not a Pyro-freak, Odango Atama!" Oh, someone should stop us now.

"Explain why you nearly burnt down the Hikawa Shrine then. You and your fire readingsâtoo extreme," I sigh, tiredly. That memory is all too familiar in my mind.

"That was an accident! And if I remember correctly, it was your fault most of all!" Oh, someone please stop us! I'm groveling here on all four! Mentally at least

"My fault? How's it my fault? Who was the one that told us to gather the papers and things for you to burn in that lovely fire place of yours?" Too late.

"Who was the one whose foot got entangled in a burning talisman tassel's hook, tripped over a nonexistent object on the ground, and fell into the pile of flammables in the corner of the room?" Ah, crap. "I know I have an excellent memory capability, and I remember that that freak of nature was no other than the Odango Atama!" That's it. I've had enough of this. Taking a deep breath, I prepare myself to give her a scolding she would regret.

"Why you—" CRASH! THUNK! Scream—silenceâ I hate my life.

"There you have it, folks! Another klutz attack by my dear friend, Odango Atama!" I hear Rei screech with laughter. At least someone's enjoying this moment. Yet again, this klutz attack is caused by my wonderful pair of three-inch slip-on heels.

'_Note to self: Burn these blasted shoes, along with all those that have threatened my and other's life, in the sacred fire at the Hikawa Shrine. Toss in Rei and all those other that dare defy me into the fire as well. Cook for about ten minutes and then proceed with the torture treatment. Thou shalt not live to see the rising morn of the fond 'morrow.'_

"I'll kill you, Rei," I grumble ferociously when I finally am able to resurface from my place underneath the table. A replay of what had just happened flashes across my mind again.

I was about to yell at Rei for being the fool that she is and so much more until the grip that I had on the table of our booth somehow slipped from my reach and something fell onto the ground beside me with a small clinking noise. I ignored it. Dreadful mistake. I took a slight step backwards to allow some space between my rival and me in case I needed to run either away from her, or to her to strangle the life out of her. Another fatal error. My heels decided to be bad and so did my endurance for I slipped on the object that had fallen and went sliding and plummeting to the cold tile below me. I think I took my chair down with me, which knocked over some other chairs nearby. Also, I tried to get up from my place on the ground, forgetting that I'm under the table, and end up banging my precious crown on the table's hard shell. Hard.

Oh, the slippery object was no other than a simple ice cube from my Piña Colada. Isn't that splendid?

Anyway, I slid a little more somehow and winded up under the table. Trying to get up, I grasp for something, but it turned out to be someone's leg. I'm guessing that person was walking and was surprised by my sudden grasp of their leg and freaked out. Well, that person went sailing to somewhere that I don't know because the club is dark and I was underneath the table.

I don't know where that person flew off to, but my guess is that they attracted enough attention to be focused on the scene of the crime, our booth, to find me under the table, crawling around, and a group of raving hens over the table. Most laughs were feminine, so I'm guessing my best friends were the ones that were laughing at me. Everyone else in the club was basically stunned silent and unmoving. See what I have to live with?

I'll never live this down. I glance, wearily, around the club. Sure enough, we have an audience. A big one. I look at my friends, still raving and clutching their stomachs in pain from their mirth. Rei and Mina have little tears in their eyes, too. Well, at least they're in pain. Looking at the table's surface, I see that the ice cubes are sprawled all over. Obviously, the glass of my emptied drink was knocked over. I begin to wonder if Mina is the one who caused this accident. I mean, how can a single ice cube just slip onto the ground out of no where?

"That was too funny," I hear someone cackle between breaths of laughter. I growl at that, but the laughter didn't cease. At all.

"No, it wasn't, girls. Quit laughing already. Mina, I'll kill you when we get home," I say while glaring at the rampant twin of mine. She stops for a short while, only to give me an innocent guise, and then starts up with her hyena craze again. "Damn you all," I manage to utter. Feeling as though my knees would snap on me, I lean backwards to take a seat, once again forgetting that my chair was still knocked over along with the rest of the seats at our booth and the next. I remember too late. Damn! _'Hello, Mr. Cold-and-Hard-Floor! I seem to meet you everyday! More than once, too. Maybe I should just get married to you, huh?'_

"Here we go again!" I hear a male voice echo. It sounds like Yaten. Ah, even more to have murdered. I wonder when I shall be able to locate a good assassin, though. All the good ones are taken so soon and are mostly unavailable until too late. So sad.

I feel a cool breeze upon my foot and look down in wonder. Ah, I seem to have lost my shoe. Great. When did that happen? Crying out in frustration, I stand up from my place on the ground and, without even trying to contain my rage in, I scream, "Where's my freakin' shoe?!" A sound of someone clearing their throat from behind me reverberates in my ears. As I've said before, oh, woe is me!

"Looking for this, Usagi?" the cold character asks me, amusement and annoyance visibly in his tone. Turning around with full force, allowing my loose hair to whip him in the chest for I am still too short to reach his face, I stare, deathly, at the man who is holding my heel in a nonchalant manner. I make a reach for it, but he pulls away at the last minute and grabs me around my waist. He molds me against his firm physic, dangling my damn heel above my head. Great! Now, more taunting of this poor child!

"Hand it over, Chiba! I'm in no mood for your mockery right now." My only response is him wrenching me even closer to him, if possible, allowing me to get a great feel of his well defined abs and chest. I hear myself yelping in surprise when he leans closer to me, our faces now only a few millimeters apart. If he even dares toâkiss me

"That really did hurt, Usa," I hear him slur. Surely, he can't be drunk, right? His breath didn't smell like it at least, but who knows? Unable to bear the closeness he created between us, I swing my foot that still has on the painful heel on at his shin, vigorously, and jump to snatch the heel in his loosened grasp. All the while, he releases me to bend over to inspect his welting shin. Hooray for me.

I slip back on my captured shoe swiftly and make a mad dash to the dance floor. Hopefully I can disappear into the crowd so that he can't find me. If he does find me, I know I will die. I did just injure the most eligible bachelor and player in all of Tokyo. I wouldn't be surprised if it's all of Japan, actually.

Now, I am in the middle of the dance floor, panting heavily after my great escape of a workout. The heels are now killing my ankles and the soles of my feet are throbbing with pain. After catching my breath, I take a good look around. Seems like everyone's having fun with dancing. That's a good thing. And no signs of those cobalt eyes and tarmac colored hair. That's a very good thing. Ah, spoke to soon. How does he find me so soon?

"Go away, you bigot. I've already told you that I'm in no mood for you and your attitude, so go away. Go back to your whore," I gaffe the insult. It must be that tiny sip of my drink that did this to me. Biting my cheek, I pace in the opposite direction of him, but he still follows me. All he has to do is take a few medium sized strides for a tall figure like him and he can grab a hold of me again. Yep. That's what he does. Damn him and his height.

"That was a very childish thing you did back there, Odango," he murmurs beside me. I'm really not in the mood to deal with him. I crane my neck to the side to meet his face, but a brief glimpse of a vaguely familiar face staring at the both of us catches my eye instead.

It is him.

Oh, Kamiâ Please, not this. Not now! Not here of all places! Straight away, I break away from Chiba's grasp and back away with cautious and terrified steps. My sapphire eyes widen in horror as I keep a close lock on the face that's now smiling at me. His eyes

"Oh, Gods—" I whimper. Flashes of my past come whizzing by me. Blood. So much blood. That knife, that laugh, and that smile; those hands, those eyesâ "Kami"

Those eyesâ They are so lifeless and dead. It is so unreal and unwavering as they peer into my soul. It feels as if I am dying all over again. Someone save me from this place. Someone bring justice here again. Free me from my memories. There's no mistake. That man that has haunted me all these yearsâhe's here. He's here in this very place, this very club, looking directly at me. I'm that foolish ten year old again. I'm that stupid child that believed in those men again

I feel a slight wetness stain my cheeks and a salty taste enter my dry mouth. Ha, so I'm crying now. How long has it been since I've cried such tears? Ten years? I hear myself screaming at the top of my lungs and my feet take action on their own. I start running in fear and shock. I start to sprint away from the crowd, away from Chiba, and away from him. The man who has always disturbed my very being completely is back. He's back and he's going to finish what he started so long ago.

I feel those strong arms encircle me again, but I struggle to get away from his embrace. I don't need Chiba right now. I don't need anyone. I can't have anyone. I can't let anyone close to me anymore. I need to escape. I need to go away. I can't keep living like this anymore. He'll never go away, will he? All these thoughts keep racing through my mindâit won't stop. It can't stop. Not as long as I'm alive. I need to die. That's what he came here for, right? To kill me. To end everything

The tears blind my sight, but I keep running. I don't know where I'm running to, but I'm sure that I ran away from the club now. The scenes of those that had spilled their blood for me while protecting me won't leave my mind. To save me, they sacrificed themselves. The sickening tearing of their flesh when the knives came in contact with their skin, the shots from that beautiful Magnum piercing the hearts of those that I loveâ I still remember it. I remember it so well.

Suddenly, a shadow appears in front of me. Fear and terror flows rapidly and painfully through my veins as he firmly takes hold of my thin wrists. I know I'm screaming because my throat is hurting me now. I'll be voiceless soon. I know I had fallen because my knees are bleeding and raw now. I wonder if I can walk again. I know I'm still crying, the tears never ending because I feel the watery trail upon my face. When will my tears stop falling?

I hear a soft voice, though. I can't quite make out the words, but I hear it. It's a soothing deep baritone. It's the voice that I've always found comfort in. It the voice that always sends those intolerable shivers in me. I listen to that voice a little. Maybe the evil thoughts will go away. Maybe I'll be at peace now.

I know I'm being held, too, because I feel a great warmth sweeping through me. I feel a pair of arms and legs around me, too. They're trapping me, making me locked in the person's embrace. For sure, I can't escape this person's encirclement now. A large hand is running through my wild hair and the other one is rubbing my back. It's a soothing movement.

I hear more voices calling out to me now, but I don't care. All I need is this person's warmth and touch. Their caress is soothing me in a way. I still see those comatose eyes gazing at me from a distance, but that's all right. All I need is this person's tenderness. That's all I need. The person is still calling out to me, but I can't understand a word they say. All I do is snuggle closer into their embrace in hopes of my fantasy to come to claim me. And it did.

All I see now is an endless light of darkness.

'_Release the boiling beast_

_That resides deep within me_

_And allow him to cause_

_All the sorrows in the world_

_To rise to the new dawn._

_Permit him to cause pain_

_In those that deserve the regrets_

_In causing harm to others_

_And to those that I've loved_

_And still do so love._

_Let me be able to free myself_

_And be, for a drastic change,_

_Bold and forever daring_

_To try those new sins_

_That are forbidden to me.'_

T.B.C.


	3. Chapter 2

His Lingering Caress

Written by: L. Amari Espris

Chapter Two

Reality of Nightmares

I feel numb all over. I don't recall what has happened since the darkness engulfed me. I don't know where I am right now either. All I see is a realm of night. I wonder if someone has blindfolded me and kidnapped me. Ah, I'm thinking such foolish things right now, but stillâ I wonder if I'm in my dreamland.

It's so odd. My dreams are usually those with color, but right now, it's nothing. Not a single color is in sight. This must be a dreamless slumber for me, huh? I'm guessing that's what it is.

"Usa," I hear an echoing somewhere. I feel my body tensing up by that voice, listening more closely for the direction of it. There's something so vague about it, and yet, it's all too memorable to me. Who's calling me?

"Usagi," a different voice taunts. This one sends cold shivers running through my spine and fingertips. There's an eerie feel to this one. Unlike the first one, I don't want to hear it anymore. I dread this one for some reason, but I don't understand why I do. "Usagi!" it screams at me this time. Gods, help me. I don't want to be here anymore. Save me from this place. Someone help me!

"Help" I hear myself trailing off. I start to see some distinct images now, but it's still not in color. It's rather the converse. It's in the shades of a grayscale: black and white with the occasional grays as shadings. I see an image of myself now, slinking away from some darkened place, covered in blackened shades that resemble bruises and scars. "Help meâsave me," begs the image of me, painfully failing away. Gradually, the picture vanishes and I'm left in the shadows again. What's going on here?

"Usagi-chan" the mocking sing-song voice calls out again. I know it's a male's voice. There's no doubt about it if it's low and raspy like that. "Come play with me," he summons me with his deranged sounding accent. I feel a huge plunging sensation in my lower abdomen and a contrasting, freezing grip on my heart. The clutch tightens when a cackling of laughter erupts from behind me, but when I move to look, all that I am greeted with are looming silver lined shadows. Kami, what's happening to me?

I jump and scream again with all my might when I sense a chilling grip of a large hand around my hip. I try to ward off the hand, but it's no use. The hand only constricts even more around my boney area, sending waves of excruciatingly murderous shakes and glacial burns throughout my entire being. This is too real to be a dream.

Another chorus of chortles fills the gloomy atmosphere and a pair of abnormally dull grey orbs suddenly comes into my clear vision. It is him again. Without a single damned doubt, it's him. The one I've grown to fear all my life. It's him who claimed my soul so long ago. His whole self comes into view and I shriek, a wetness flowing down my tender cheeks. He's here.

His overcastted ash hued eyes, glistening ginger dyed mane, cynically up curled and pale lips, tall, copper tanned form, and his large youthful hands. It's all here. He's all here with meâalone.

"Did you miss me, my love?" he chortles, insanely.

As I suffer from his lethal wring around my neck, rushed, heartrending moments from my childhood flicker in the back of my mind. The vacant expressions upon my loved ones' blood stained features comes first. Following shortly after is the memory of the stiletto wounds that were found in one of their bodies during a police investigation, fresh crimsoned liquid still seeping from the open punctures of the cadaver. Another memory of a beloved bleeding copiously on the coldly tiled ground trails along. The last scene is the one that still continues to traumatize me beyond any reasons of repair.

A small boy had run up to a long, light haired child with fair, childish features, no older than ten. Spreading his short arms and legs as far and wide as he was able to, he shields the girl from a terrible happening. Cataclysmic screams had erupted from the both of them when a long line of firings of a silver coated gun pierced through the boy's back. Almost immediately, endless pouring of his sultry, scarlet bodily fluid seeped from the disastrous shots. The male child died instantaneously.

"You'll be like them soon, you pathetic girl," my worst fear hisses at me. I thrash about in his hold, swinging my legs at his body. Finally, my legs come in contact with his middle and his gripping arm and he releases me from his mangling control. I catch my breath as I try my best to run away from the man before me, fear evidently pounding against my dying heart. It is a deathly blunder to do such a thing as running away. I perceive a sound of a gun clicked out of the safety mode, and a creaking in the trigger key.

'_I'll die now, huh?' _

A gunshot rings out in my silhouetted ambit and I experience a raw hurt in my left shoulder. I relief a deafening shriek from my already depleted throat. The pain was intolerable. I can still feel myself screaming until—

"USAGI!"

"Usa, wake up!"

"USA!"

"Wake up already, Odango!" —the voices I know all too well booms in the depths of my ears. I can't wake from this dream, though. How can I?

"Open your eyes, please!" another recognizable tone beckons me. Hoy, can't they see I can't open my eyes? I'm dying here! Or at least, I feel like I'm dying. I still feel the pain at least. This is too confusing.

I become aware of myself being pulled into a strong but gentle embrace and a whispered words of, "Usako, please," against my ear. Only one person has ever called me by that nameâ Chiba Mamoru. Why is he here?

My world of dreams dims a little. It's no longer the lonesome shade of black, but a glowing, warm shade of white, the color of the angels. Purity. I follow the lighting a little and I encounter the same cobalt eyes that I've grown to hate so muchâI think. The eyes are different this time. Instead of them being emotionless, they're clouded over and filled with an emotion that, I think, is one called concern. Finally I get a time long enough to figure out some emotion in him. This isn't how I quite planned it to be like, on the other hand, wrapped up in a warm hug and securely tucked in the crook of his well built arm, gazing up at himâand on my bed.

"Damn it, Usagi!" hollers the Chiba pig after I had kicked him in the abdomen, sending him flying off my cozy bed with a rather soundly thud. I notice the rest of the people in my room then. Rei, Minako, Makoto, and Ami are standing off to the side, undaunted and yet perplexed. Guess I must've startled them, huh?

"Who told you that you're allowed in here, Chiba?" I try to growl, but it turns into more of a curious and surprise questioning than the former. The bigot just stands up and strays to the other side of my room, leaning against my cream colored wall. He shoots me a slight smile and rises up an eyebrow of his. Why does he always have to tease me? Just once, I'd like a straight, truthful answer. I cross my arms upon my chest, sitting with crossed legs on the edge of my divan. The whole 'be tough' look is kind of spoiled since I feel my cheeks give off a pretty warm glow. Damn my body.

"Hey, Odango, that's not really nice. First, you went kicking and screaming out of no where, and then you kicked Makoto in her poor stomach when she came over to your side, and now you do the same with Mamoru. What's the matter with you?" I hear my fiery friend say, indifferently. I want to yell at her and tell her the whole thing, but I decide against it. Out of all of my friends, Naru and Mina are the only two who know about my past. Naru found out because she saw the bruises and scars on my body once at school in the changing rooms. Minako, on the other hand, pretty much tricked me into telling her. Ah, my lovely chocolate ice cream sundaeâ I pity it for being treated that way by my cruel double.

"IâI was just—ah—having a nightmare. That's all, Rei," I lie. Well, it's not really a lie. I was having a nightmare of some sort, even if it felt too real to be truly a nightmare. I still feel the sharp pain in my shoulder after all. Unconsciously, my hand reaches up to the sore spot where I was shot in my dream and begins to rub it gently. Yep. The pain's still there. "Anyway," I start, trying to find a way to change the subject. I don't want to talk about my dream. "What are you guys doing here? What happened?" All I receive are blank stares. "What?" Did I say something wrong?

Minako's the first to give voice. "Usa, you don't remember? Youâ Last night? You don't remember last night?" I tilt my head to the side while giving her a confused expression. What about last night? All I remember was seeing—

"Him" I mutter under my breath. I remember seeing him and then running off somewhere. The next thing I remember is warmth. Someone was holding last night. Gods, why now? Out of all the places and all the times in my life, why now? I've began to forget about him, and he appears in front of me from no where in particular. Chiba's voice brought me back from my thoughts.

"You got scared by something, Usagi. Or should I say" He walks up to me, stopping when he's right in front of the place I am sitting at. His gaze never fades or leaves my own intense one. He finishes with a low murmur of, "someone?" He's sharp. I take a giant and noticeable gulp of air. My throat seems moderately dry. "The next thing I knew you were running and screaming. You ran all the way to the park, amazingly enough." So that's where I ran off to! Wow! I really ran that far?

"Mamoru was the one who got you to stop. If he hadn't stopped you, it wouldn't be surprising if you had gotten caught by someone else, someone worse. Or ran over by a carâ You had all of us worried, Usa." I gaze up at my blonde and blue companion, a knowing look in her eyes. She knows what happened. She knows why I ran. I have to explain myself to her later. I just know it.

I avert my gaze from everyone's sight, directing it to the silvery white sheets of my bed. I can't explain this to everyone. I don't want to explain it to anyone actually. I don't want to remember him or anything relating to him. I don't want to remember what happened to me, but my friends are worried and of course they would have questions. They wouldn't be my friends if they didn't care about what happened to me. I remain silent, however, as I hear Minako sigh.

"Usagi, we want to know what happened down at the club. Why did you run like that?" Rei argues. Makoto makes a grunt in agreement with the priestess. I remain in my place, silent and unmoving. How am I supposed to answer her? How can I answer her at all?

Ami joins in, saying, "Usagi, if you don't want to tell us, we won't pressure you to. We're all worried about you—very much. The guys are, too, but they had to leave earlier, so they weren't able to be here with you." Leave it to Ami to be a little more sympathetic and understanding than the hotheaded one.

"But you have to tell us sometime. If someone's hurting you, tell us. I'll beat them down to the point that they'll fear your very presence!" declares my macho friend, Mako. I smile and chuckle a little, but I know it'd be impossible for her to deal with the likes of him. The very thought of him sends shivers running up and down my spine. I wouldn't be surprised if it did for everyone. He's just too scary to look at. Period.

"Why don't you tell us, girl? Who were you running away from?" the hothead commands. I give her a glare of death, but it doesn't faze her. It never did. I uncross my legs and arms. I lean backwards with a deep sigh, sinking into the soft, silky sheets. I close my eyes, but only see his face again. Despite the troubling image, I keep my eyes closed while replying in a surprisingly cool voice,

"Who said I was running away from anyone?"

"Who would ever run away like the way you did if they weren't? You were frightened, Usa. You got scared by someone in that club and ran for your life. There's no use denying that fact. It's true and you know it." Damn that Chiba and his intelligence. Wait. I've already cursed him for that, haven't I? Oh, well. No harm in curing it again. Damn it!

"Even if I was running away from someone I feared, if that's even true—" I open my eyes to look at him. "—why would I even want to tell someone like you, Chiba?" My voice sounds so cold that it shocks me. I'm being so mean to him now and, no matter how much I hate to admit it, I feel guilty. His jaw tightens and his knuckles turn a slight paler color compared to his lovely tanned skin from his clenching fist. I've made him mad.

"You're right. Why would you tell me? I'm only being concerned about you right now. Why would you tell me?" His words are twice as cold as mine, but they hit the mark. He has really good aim. Damn him and his good targeting abilities, too. I wince, unnoticeably I hope, at his choice of words, but I still hold my gaze proudly but silently. His beautiful navy eyes darken a shade and the usual light that is in there fades away. Even like this, he's still so damn handsome. Gods

"Usagi, he's stayed with you the whole time. He's the one who brought you home, too. Not once has he left you," Rei hisses at me. "And once you're awake, you're being heartless towards him. Really now. Just tell us what happened, will you? Or do I have to fish it out of you?"

"You do that and I'll make sure you regret it, Hino Rei," I threaten, each word that I utter coated with acrimony. I can sense her dagger-like glare at me, but I ignore it. "If any of you try to get it out of me, I'll make you all payâdearly. Don't think I can't," I continue with the same amount of malice in my tone of voice. Someone stop me. I don't want to lose any more people.

"I need to talk to her alone, everyone. Please leave," Minako quietly speaks. Thank you, Mina, for saving my poor butt! I wonder what she has to say to me, though. It'd be no surprise if it's about him. Rei starts to protest, but Mina comebacks with a calm word of "Please." Rei then stomps out of my room, followed by some other footsteps. The womanizer didn't leave just yet. He still stands there, gazing down at my splayed out form. Furrowing my brows, I emit a low snarl from the back of my throat. When will he leave?

"Things that you choose to remain unsaid can harm you more than you know, Usako," he murmurs in his low voice, just above a whisper. "It'll hurt you more than you know." What does he mean by that? Then, he leaves, closing the door with a soft click. Why does he always have to be such a gigantic enigma to me? To everyone else, he's more open. Towards me, he's always teasing, never serious, always touching me and holding me, and so much more. Basically, he's always a jackass around me and I don't understand it. I gave up trying to understand him after the first few weeks of meeting him. I just complain because it feels nice to release some held-in steam.

Forgetting all about him and my other friends for the moment, I sit up from my resting spot and glance at the concern filled Mina. _'How am I supposed to tell her without her protecting me like a mother hen later?'_ I query myself, aggravated. _'I don't want her to become involved in this at all. I don't want anyone to get hurt or die because of me againâI'll make sure of that.'_ My throat constricts slightly at the mere thought of my loves coaxed in their own blood amongst dismal shadows of the night. _'No. I won't allow that to happen no more.'_ Minako's silently serene voice tingles in my ears.

"Usagi, don't keep this all to yourself. We all want to help you. I want to help you." She glides towards me and takes a seat besides me. Slowly, the beautiful maiden takes hold of my pale and small hand and gives a gentle squeeze. After taking a short glimpse at our hands I tilt it upwards to meet her glistening crystalloid eyes. "I still remember that day, Usa. Remember? I threatened your lovely entrée and you caved in and told me." She laughs a little at the memory as do I. "You told me about your past. I still remember everything you told me," she whispers under her breath as if to recall the details of my tale to herself, but I hear her anyway.

It's true I did tell her. But, it was only small details of some parts here and there. I've never told anyone the complete story about my past. She must've noticed that fact if she's talking to me like this right now. As I predicted, she continues with her words, peering straight into my soul, but I block her out. She can't know. I won't allow her, out of everyone that I know, to get hurt by what happened to me. She realizes that I've created a barrier around my heart, and she narrows her eyes dangerously.

"You're not telling me everything, Usa." That sounds more like a condemning statement than a curious inquiry. Her voice is still as soft and calm as ever much to my immense surprise. Her patience and maturity level is far beyond our age group. She's a wonderful woman because of this trait especially. I already know she'll be a wonderful mother.

"You're right," I answer her with a voice just barely audible enough for her to hear. "I'm not telling you everything. I've only told you the gist of it." I'm being brutally honest here and it sucksâbig time. I hate this." My gaze never wavering, I continue, "But it's nothing that horribly serious, Mina." Well, that's not really a lie. "I've never told it to anyone before. I don'tâwant to tell it to anyone until I'm ready. Just, pleaseâ Try to be tolerant enough of me. For my sake," I plead.

"I know I'm asking too much of you as well as everyone else, but you have to understand" I pause for a quick breath, but it's difficult with my ever tightening throat. "My familyâthe ones that I loved so muchâthey all died an inhumane death because of me. All of themâall of them" Taking notice of my space out again, I check myself and go on with my placid explanation of my stubborn behavior. "I will not take that risk again, Mina. I won't allow it to happen again. It must hurt you to know that your 'best friend' isn't telling you the whole truth, huh?" I manage a weak, ironic smile as I note the softened expression upon her facial features. "It hurts, but if I tell you, believe meâ It will hurt you more than you know. It will hurt more than now.

"You know that I trust you the most, Mina. I trust you so much and I love you just as much. That's why I can't tell you. Please, understand that much. I will tell you when I'm ready, but for now, I'm not. And don't pressure me like everyone else. With them stressing me like this way, I'm losing my confidence and belief in still living here, in this place and even in this life at all. If you join them, I'll be a broken soul and mind all over again.

"I need your support, Minako. I need it so much. I'm sorry that I'm hurting you. I'm sorry that I'm hurting everyone like I am now. I don't regret it, though. Even if I lose your trust and your friendshipâif you're safe from harm, then I'll cope with it. I don't know what else I can say, Mina. I'm just—" I stop when I feel a slight moisture sliding against my flushed cheeks. I've not cried in so long

I feel small droplets of liquid on my hand as well. I take a closer look at Minako's face. Ah, well, at least I'm not the only one crying here. She sniffles a little and smiles at me, knowingly and compassionately. I still have her love. I give her a smile of forever gratitude in return for her thoughtfulness. I knew I can believe in her.

So, here we are, sitting together, weeping together, smiling together, laughing together. The girls, including the bigot, outside must be wondering what's going on in here. First, it's silent. Now, the room's filled with laughter from us two crying twins. How odd is that? My heart feels lighter than before. No more pain to be tugging and sniping at my poor heart. For now at least. For the time being, I'm forgetting the pain and my sufferings. In the interim, I'm chatting and giggling with one of my beloved best friends, my radiant Apollo gold and shimmering Poseidon azure twin.

By the time we've finished chatting away, it was already dusk. Well, it seemed like it. It's hard to keep in check with the time when you're having too much fun goofing around with your pals, you know? The girls had been banging at the door when they heard us two twins screaming and kicking the walls. Chiba had accidentally locked my bedroom door. Either they thought we were killing each other orâsomething else. In reality, we were having a very immature pillow fight, and I was winning by a landslide. Oh, what a terrible twist of fate!

One of the girls had found a way to open the door and they all ended up landing in a massive dog pile from making an effort to enter all at once. Teaches them a lesson about patience, right? If I remember accurately enough, Ami was on the bottom of everyone. Next came Makoto and then Chiba, who was trying his hardest not to squash the two below him with his weight, then Rei, who destroyed the poor man's concentration and the two girl's physical safety. It was really funny to watch them all struggle to stand all at once. They kept stumbling over one another and my brutal friend, the amazingly strong brunette, looked as if she was ready to beat the raven haired male above her for accidentally grabbing her thigh for stability.

Mina and I just sat on the far edge of the twin sized bed with two pillows in each hand and another one resting indescribably tattered and flattened in the space between the two of us. We were watching the spectacle with immeasurable interest, mirth plainly shown on our fair faces. In our minds, we thought, _'How lucky we are to, one, not be in their terrible position and, two, to be able to witness such a catastrophe.'_ We waited uncomplainingly for all of them to stand up properly. Their faces reddened and contorted with confusion and frustration and then sighed in tandem.

"What's there to sigh about, Odango?" the fierce priestess had exclaimed in provocation. I just gave her a simple, innocent smile, as did my look-alike. "Better yet, why didn't you help us?" Our smiles widened instantly, changing into a devilish and fearful grin. Rei faltered in her step and squeaked as she moved a few footsteps backwards, towards the corner wall. She must've guessed what was going to come next. The rest seemed to fidget in their places. So, they've finally caught on to what was happening. They were a little too late in moving away from us two lethal and armed blondes. The next few moments went something like this for me and not Mina because she got every person right on the dot:

Target One: POOF! Hit. Successfully ruffled and flustered male.

Target Two: CRASH! Missed. Failed overwhelmingly by a kilometer.

Target Three: MEOW! Wrong target. Failed dreadfully, but ludicrously.

Target Four: SCREAM! A ricochet. Failed completely, but successfully angered female.

"Usagi!" I smiled sheepishly at my ruffled friend beside me. Was it my fault that Makoto dodged from me so quickly that I ended up hitting my ally? POOF! Guess so.

Minako's fifth target's thoughts: Offendedâand in need of a temperament control.

Now, it was war. I had lost my ally anyway.

I made a reach to claim the fluffy cushion underneath my foot. It was botched when my view was obstructed by a fluff of cottony indigo. The pillow landed with a silent thump beside my stretched out hand and I stared at it, shocked and off guard. That was a mistake. In less than a couple of minutes, I was encased in a tomb composed of countless pillows and cushions from the couch in my living room. Why must my so-called friends betray me this way? Ay, such misery befalls the fair, light maiden such as me.

My terrible fate marked the end of the short-lived war against the terrible women before meâand my once trustworthy colleague. All of us took our time cleaning up the whole apartment and no one spoke of my odd moment in waking up earlier that day. Guess the pillow fight had lightened up the moods and worries, huh? Well, at least I think it did. Mina and I were a little more silent than the others, but it went unnoticed. We both have a lot to think about, I should say.

Now, I'm lying in my bed again at three in the morning with my silver sheets half strewn on the cold carpeting of my bedroom and myself. Luna crawls up to me and plants a warm kiss on my cheekbone. _'She must know how I feel.' _I smile at her and whisper to the feline a simple good night. She responds with a mewl and curls up around my neck, her head resting just below my chin and on my neck. I listen to her purring and feeling the rising and falling of her small body as she takes steady breaths. It's soothing me plenty.

"Tsukino, you need to get a grip of yourself and face your fears! You can't keep running away like this," I scold myself. I turn to lie on my stomach, much to Luna's disappointment. She climbs onto my back and mewls some more before resting on the small of my back. Well, at least I don't have to worry about being cold there now. I continue talking to myself, "If you continue to run from him, then you won't ever find happiness." My little demonic conscience enters to annoy me and question me now.

'_Will you even find your happiness? With the way you are now, how can you find what you want?' _he jeers. So, I labeled it a 'he.' No big deal, right? Besides, it talks more like an impish male than a serene female.

"Ah, shush up, you stupid conscience. I'll find my happiness. Who knows? I might even be able to find love. Maybe, right?" I'm questioning more to my heart than to my mind. Will I ever find someone to love me? I doubt it. My heart's barriers always come up around males. All adult males, actually. The children never bother me. They're really cute. The little boys always bicker with the girls and always say how disgusting they are and so on; too cute to watch. Shingo was like that, tooâ "I want to find someone to love," I whisper, hoarsely.

'_Will you, really? You're a tainted woman, Usagi. Even more than the worst ones in the world. How can any man—anyone, really—love someone like that?' _he retorts. If my consciences were alive, I'd be sure to be best friends with my angelic one and castrate him, then kill him slowly and painfully. Why does my heart and mind do this to me?

But he's right. I'm tainted. I know that. I'm ruined. Spoiled goods. Why would anyone want to love someone like that? I'm someone who can't have love, huh? No one can ever love me. Maybe only a little, but once they find out the truth, they'll throw me away. Just like my ex-fiancée. He tossed me aside and two-timed me with another girl when he learned the truth about me.

"No one will love me" I sigh. "They'll throw me aside and forget about me. Just like Ihara."

'_That's right. Men are all like that. When they see something that they can't have in someone, they go and look for another. You were just his toy. It's not like you loved him anyhow.'_ For a second time, he's right. My devil's winning today. I think he's been winning for over half of my life nowâever since that time.

My beautiful pet stirs a little and stretches along my back. She meows and purrs while taking ginger steps up my spine and towards the base of my neck. She stops there and bends down to rub her whiskers and cute little wet nose against my ear. She calls out to me again and I turn my head to look at her from the corner of my eye. Her sparkling ruby eyes constantly wonder me. They're so beautifulâjust like her whole self.

Sighing sadly, I slowly turn to lie on my back again and she moves with me. She ends up sitting upon my chest, still peering down at me with her jeweled orbs. I flash her a small smile and sniffle a tad bit to get rid of the depression that's resting in my throat. I need to do this for Luna. She doesn't want to see me cry again. My heart agrees with me on this. I reach up to scratch her behind the ears, a loud hum of purrs emitting from her.

"You're the only one who understands my true pain. Don't you, Luna?" Another meow and louder purring is my only response. Huh, who would've figured? My cat is the only one who still loves me even after knowing all the damaging torture I've been put through. Will my friends ever love me like they do now if I tell them?

I close my eyes and hug Luna close to me, and she lets me. Honestly, I'm so happy I've found her. She's been with me all these years and never once has she run away from me or hates me. Well, except once, but she forgave me after I snuck her a double tuna filled snack behind my parents' backs one night.

I forgot to feed her for the whole day and Shingo, my brother, was the one who fed her dinner. Not at all pleasant for her because it was the wrong kind. He gave her dog food instead of cat food. Poor, poor Luna. I was the one in charge of Luna since I was the one who found her in the streets.

The next day, she ignored me, and when my parents told me about not feeding her the day before, I understood what was wrong. I'd be upset, too. Feeling miserable, I literally begged for her forgiveness and even made her a bigger and more comfy bed in my room, but nothing worked. I knew that tuna was her favorite dish, so during dinner, I stole two tuna cans from our canned foods cabinet and a can opener. In my room, I opened them and she came back in from the rooftop and ate happily. She forgave me almost immediately.

I smile, longingly, at the memories back then. It was all so happy and cheerful. It was just us four back then: Mama, Papa, Shingo, and I. Everything was beautiful to me and I was so innocent and pure. Maybe too innocent and naïve for my own good. For everyone's own well being. Maybe if I had just been more wary and more mature about everything happening around me, I wouldn't have caused all this trouble, all this pain, and all this death.

"It's all my fault, Luna." The feline jerks her fluffy head up and stares at me with wide eyes. Who said animals can't understand us? My cat certainly does. Her purring stops as well as her meowing. All she does is stare at me, her eyes penetrating into my own. "If I only hadn't been so stupid back then," I continue while watching her red eyes narrowing a little. "They might still be alive. And I wouldn't have been this ruined" I feign a smile while saying, "But it's too late, huh? I'll just have to live with my consequences. Right, Luna?" She still remains still and poised, but her nose twitches a little. She doesn't know what to say nor think about that statement of mine. No surprise there. I wouldn't have a thought about it either.

'_You have to live with the result of your naïve actions. That's the only way you can go on with your life, Usagi,'_ my mind, the demon, and soul, the angel, chime inside me. A stray tear cascades down my cheek. There goes my silent oath to Luna and myself. This is the second time I've found myself crying over something this stupid. I'm a reminiscing idiot, aren't I? My feline companion puts a paw on top of my head and meows. Then, she tilts her head towards me and licks away the salty tear flowing down. I only have Luna who loves me completely. My pet

Showing her a true smile of adoration and gratitude, I complete the last conversation for this night with the words, "Let's sleep now, Luna. We have work to do tomorrow." She meows in agreement and takes her place under my chin. With that, both of us silently drift off to sleep, both listening to the other's breathing and heartbeats.

A pair of beautiful and exotic-like royal blue orbs flashes past my closed eyelids. Tonight, I shall be thinking of him as my last thoughts. He was so cold today, but he joined in and laughed with us during the pillow war and sabotage. I hardly ever hear him laugh. What have I done to make him like this?

He laughs around others, I think, but he never does those things around me. All I ever get is his endless, unnecessary teasing. Sometimes, if not all the time, I doubt that his behavior towards me would ever change, but I wish it would. For the most peculiar reason, I want him toâ What, exactly, do I want from him?

'_You want him to love you, fool?'_ the devil chimes inside my mind. Impossible! As if I ever want that womanizer to have feelings about me. I doubt he even does. He hates be beyond belief. That's why he always harasses me, tormenting me to the point that I can't take him anymore and end up using violence against him. I hate men like himâ _'Do you really?'_ he comments, wryly. Oh, I hate myself and my villainous conscience. Where's my seraphic soul when I need her? _'Asleep and ignoring your stupid and droning ranting, but, pretty much, she agrees with my thoughts.'_ Another betrayal! Such a pityâ See why I hate him so much?

'_Chiba Mamoru...'_ I say in my mind. _'You're an enigma to me. You hurt me, tooâ You hurt me so much, but I don't think you know that. If you do know, you're the second to the cruelest man I've ever met. I've already met the most evil man alive'_ The eyes I fear the most flicker across my mind again.

I shudder a little, but not enough for Luna to wake up from. I muse over the nightmare that I had last night. Can it be a premonition? It sounds foolish, but those hands that gripped me and that shot felt all too real. I had a nightmare like this when I was youngerâa short time before the night he entered my life. I'm scared now.

Sensations of the times his hands roamed over me, touching me, exploring me, and the way he always called out my nameâit sounded soâso insane and wrong. The way he had always been kind to meâI've fell for it when I was a child, but now that I reflect back on the way he displayed his kindness to my family and me, it all seems too fake. It was all just a sham. He played all of us, and betrayed us in the end. He betrayed me.

Yet another tinge of blue eyes appears in my mind. Ah, my second tormentor in this lifetime. How he pops up at the worst of times, and the best of times. His timing, even in my visions, is impeccable.

"Usako" my mind replays his name for me in his voice. This time, it sends shivers running through my being. I never understand these emotions I feel whenever he's around. All I know is that I hate them and I want them to disappear. Why does he do this to me so relentlessly? It's annoying me to the point of boredom if that's probable.

'_I doubt I can ever find my happiness in you'_ I trail in my thoughts of him. Can I really not find my happiness inside of him? I wonder so much, but I don't know, nor do I comprehend, the reason of why. My breathing's slowing gradually. I can't move a single muscle now. Ah, so tired. I have to wake up in an hour or two. This sucks. I'll be facing hell at work tomorrow for lacking this much sleep this week. Damn it all!

'_Fears of falling,_

_Terrors of dying,_

_And pleads of living_

_Are what haunt_

_A person's dreams._

_Qualms of regrets,_

_Worries of losing,_

_And grieves of love_

_Are what sway_

_A human's reality._

_A blending of both_

_Dreams and realities_

_Into a single vision_

_Is what I call_

_A reality of nightmares.'_

T.B.C.


	4. Chapter 3

His Lingering Caress

Written by: L. Amari Espris

Chapter Three

A False Alarm

'BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!' drones the wretched alarm clock of mine. I groan a little and disregard the clock. I need sleep, damn it! I feel Luna's ears twitching underneath my chin, tickling it. She leaps off of me a while later. I take this opportune moment to roll over and plop my second pillow over my head to muffle the annoying and piercing sound. I don't care if the neighbors come to bang on my door or report to the police about an unnecessary morning wake up call. The next thing I heard surprised me.

A yowl, a bang, a crash, and thenâ€silence. I snuggle deeper into my pillow. All's well in the Tsukino apartment now. For the moment anyway. It was, once again, a short lived moment of peace.

"MEOW!!" I feel the wind being knocked out of me and for a quick moment I could almost declare the true fact that I saw a white flash of light before me. Obviously, my delicate pet had pounced on my poor stomach. Boy, can she tackle someone! After all those years of chasing after Shingo and hurdling him to the ground for all sorts of reasons, ranging from a pulling of a tail to stealing her food away, it's obvious it has paid off; it hurts like hell! "MEOW!!!" There she goesâ€againâ€and againâ€and againâ€and—

Oh, I need to see my doctor after this. Also, someone call the Humane Society! My cat is attacking me! Help me before I end up dying by this mangy scoundrel of a kitty-kat's wrath!

"Get—" Ouch. There goes a few of my delicate ribs. "—off!" Not again. She pierced my bellybutton again! "Lu—" This kitten is going to be praying to me tonight when she's out in the bitter cold of winter. I'll be sure of that! "—na!" She's still not stopping. "LUNA!" Nope. Nothing. Nada. No response of action of stop anytime soon.

While growling and mustering all the little weary strength I still have stored inside of me, I sling my pillow at the hopping Luna. A great screech escapes her throat and the excess weight is gone.

"Finally," I burble, still feeling the effect of tiredness and pain from my vicious feline cat. I still don't budge from my place on the bed, though. Why bother? I can just call in sick later.

"MEOW!!!!!!" Curses on my persistent cat! I sit up on my bed after stumbling a couple times, coughing and wheezing. I glared twin swords at my furry friend, whose face was that of innocence, and hiss at her. She's going to die!

She seems to have gotten my message because she's backing up from me in great, long strides. I smirk evilly at her, as she makes a mad dash to the window and flies out of sight. She literally flew out of my room

I painstakingly step out of bed, but end up falling out of it instead because of the lack of footing I had. Every day it's like this. My routine begins right after I fall out of bed.

"ARGH!" I cry out in frustration and agony. "I can't do this today! I don't want to go to work!" I punch the pillow that I took down with me in my fall a couple times to release my anger. I'll feel bad for the pillow later. For now, it's my punching bag. Oh, dear. A little fluff is coming out of it! "â€oops" I need to buy another new pillow again.

"Geez, Usagi." I jump at the voice coming from my doorway. Not now! How'd he even get in here?! "I'd hate to be the man who marries you. Just look at that pillow!" I tilt my nose up in the air, snootily, and look him straight in his emotionless blue hued eyes.

"I'd hate being married to you, too, Chiba. No doubt about that," I huff, but for some reason, those words cause a slight pull and thud in my heart and middle. I rerun the words he had said to me just beforeâ€ Oh, another drop and punch in the face. How weird. I hate him even more now. "And the man I will maybe marry in the future—" Or in my next lifetime, hopefullyâ€ "—will have to tolerate me for my abusiveness. But of course, I'll treat him with love—not violence. Only violence to my precious downy pillows and comforters," I add, absurdly. Ah, I sound like a babbling hyena again! Curse this moment!

Cocking an eyebrow, along with a boyish smirk, he comments, "'Treat him with love,' Usako? Really? Well, I think anything's possible, right?"

"That doesn't matter to you. Right, Chiba? And don't call me that! I hate that name! No one calls me that name, so you shouldn't either. I don't like how you say it at allâ€it's tooâ€indecent," I say without realizing until too late. His eyes narrow for a second, following a shifting of his feet and poise. His arm's resting on my door frame and he's leaning against it, legs crossed, free hand resting on his hip, and still with that same cocky grin as ever before. I pull my fallen sheets closer and tighter around my petite frame. I don't like that look on his face, but I don't show any emotion to him. It's a weakness to do such a thing. Well, I think I'm not showing any feelings to him

"How's it indecent, Usako? I like calling you by that name. No one else calls you by it, right? Why not allow me the pleasure in calling you that then? It suits you, 'my little bunny,'" Halfway through his talk, he started to walk towards the me on the floor, and so now, because of his immense height and long, strong legs, he's only a dangerous millimeter away from closing the distance between the two of us. Where's Luna when you need her? She'll be getting no catnip tonight! "Plus, you're wearing some reallyâ€cuteâ€rabbit prints"

Oh, my. He has such bad timing. Indeed, I'm wearing a really cute bunny print pale metallic cream nightgown. The straps are made of a really thin, lacey material and they keep sliding off of my small shoulders. The front of the gown has a very simple yet elegant design of lacey and beaded patterns. Also, the nightgown itself is a silken fabric, and it bunches together with one of those elastic bands used for clothes just below my bust size of a 36C with a small dainty bow in the center of it. From there, it flows down freely and loosely, but it trances each and every one of my curves. It has an installed bra system already, so, naturally, I wasn't wearing anything underneath. Due to this, the curves are a little bit softer.

With those words being said, you can pretty much see how much he was enjoying the view of cleavage I an offering him right now. "Shush it, Chiba. And get away from me. If you dare to come any closer, I swear" He gazes at me with softened eyes. I've never seen this look before. This is so new. I don't know what's in his eyes, though. What can it be? It can't be—no, it can't! Ah, I'm disgusted with myself for thinking such thoughts.

'_Thinking dirty thoughts, 'Usako?'"_ the devil taunts. ARGH!!!!! I'll kill this conscience with my mind next timeâ€I think I can do that, but will I kill myself in the process? Ah, screw it!

"Usako" I hear him breathe out in a heavy, husky tone. Fearing that he is going to do what I fear he'd do, I move away from him, but it wasn't much. The look never left him and he motions to come closer to me again. What's with this pig? I notice, now, that my heart's racing at a deathly pace. A twisting but pleasing sensation is coursing through my whole being, and also, my head's spinning out of control. I feel as though I'm going to keel over anytime now. If this is all caused by him, whom I doubt, then I never want to be anywhere near him ever again! But I think it's impossible for me to accomplish that. Ah, drats.

My body is moving all on its own, and my foot incidentally decides to come in contact withâ€ This is getting tiresome. I think he's feeling that, tooâ€ My foot comes in contact with the very center of his abdomen. Even when I kick him with my foot, I can feel his firm muscles! Damn! How nice is that? Curses! Why am I thinking this?

'_Ah, Usagi! You're thinking so many dirty thoughts right now! Bad, Usagi! Bad, bad, bad!'_

'_Ah, just this once, you vile virus of a conscienceâ€just this onceâ€shut the hell up!' _

'_Humph. Ignorant buffoon,'_ he shrugs. I must be a schizophrenic if I'm thinking like this. I'm having arguments with myself! Ah! I'm losing it here and it's all because of thatâ€thatâ€damnable, big, mushroom headed, egotistical, ugly, two-timing, poor excuse of the decent man—no, scratch thatâ€ Of all of mankind! He's also a stupid and shameless, chauvinistic creature that I label as a drooling baboon named Chiba Mamoru!

'_Remember to breathe, Usagi!_ Breathe inâ€ Breathe out

"Ah, I feel better now."

"'â€damnableâ€big, mushroom headedâ€baboon'" I perceive a male voice that I know all too well echo my thoughts. Damn my stupid mouth. I say things without knowing it! Ah! The world is lost! Well, my world at leastâ€ How much did he actually hear?

"Um" I smile meekly at him as he gapes at me with a blank and dumb face. That's a rather funny look on him, I must say. "I'llâ€go and get ready nowâ€if you don't mind" I hesitate. I know his eyes are following me as I race around my messy room. I know that a blush is painted on my already pale pinkish tinged cheeks. Oh, this is too embarrassing! I don't even know how much he's heard! I don't know how much I've blabbed! I whine a little when I make a quick sprint from the far corner of my room to the bathroom on the other side, past him. He's still staring at me! Gods!

After a while of getting ready in the bathroom, which includes changing out of my clothes because of a certain over six-foot tall giant standing in my room, I look myself over in the medium sized mirror hanging over my beautiful ivory white sink. I have little traces of black under my eyes. Oh, wellâ€ Who cares? I don't! With a curt nod of approval, I exit the bathroom, expecting to see him standing there, but he wasn't.

Smiling, I stalk into out of my room and across the living room perimeter to enter the kitchen. "Maybe he's left. That's goodâ€ Hold it." I falter in my step. _'Do I smell toast and coffee from the kitchen?'_

With a curious look written on my face, I stride over to the scent. Swinging open the kitchen's entrance doors, I meet with the sight of the man I despise, lounging in one of my intricately carved wooden chairs and sipping a black coffee, I figure, while reading a newspaper. Where'd he get the newspaper?

A dish with bread crumbs rests on the tableside in front of him, along with another dish of toast and coffee, with milk, sugar, and cream added in already, on the opposite end of him. He made this while I was in the bathroomâ€or was it a little bit before? I never take that long in preparing for the day. Screw those rumors about girls taking forever in the bathrooms! It doesn't apply to everyone! Not me at least.

"It seems as if your jaw is going to snap apart from the joints soon. Quit gawking like that. Yes, I made this before you woke up. I came here a little bit too early, so I decided to let you sleep and made this in the process. Now, sit down and eat; the toast will grow cold if you don't hurry" he speaks without the slightest glance from his reading material. So he did come early. But, why? And how? I'm the only one with the key to this apartment. How'd he get in?

I take a sit across from him. His gaze is still focused on his reading. I continue to stare at him for only a few more seconds, which feel more like minutes, before gazing at the nicely cooked toast. Picking it up, I nibble the edge of it. It's not poisoned. Yay. Yummy! Taking hold of the brewed drink with my free hand, I inhale the scent of it then sip a little.

'_Oh, my'_ I let out a squeal of delight. _'Ah, yummy food!! Even though it's not much.'_

Apparently, he hears my squeal because he moves his eyes to look at me and smiles. I ignore him, rudely enough, and do away with my lovely meal.

"How'd you know that I like my coffee like this?" I ask, impulsively. He looks at me with surprised eyes at first, and then fades into a smileâ€a teasing smile. Gods, for just one whole freakin' minute just let him be true to himself for at least that long of a time span! At least thirty seconds if he's that intolerant of a minute! Damn him!

"I figured that you would. You look like the type of girl who would like things sweetened." I give a simple nod. I don't know whether or not that is an insult or not, but I shrug it off. It could be worse, right? I took a sip of my coffee when he continues to speak. "And, moreover, you had a coffee cream blend in your refrigerator. Didn't take me that long to figure out. It's common sense, really." I choke on my hot, sweet drink at his words. Oh, yeah. It could be worse.

"Oh," is all I manage to utter from my still suffocating throat. Ah, I think I just scalded my tongue. Blast it!

Chuckling, he says, "Hurry and finish. I'd expected you to finish sooner, considering the fact that you're a considerably quick eater, but I guess I underestimated you." I still don't know whether or not to take his words at the moment as compliments or insults. He's too neutral-like and unemotional. He folds his paper while standing up, a silent skidding of the chair against the wooden tiles pronouncing his rise also. I'm still sitting and choking. My poor, poor throat and tongue. That evil, wretched, horrible man! "I'll wait for you in the living room, Usagi." I nod an okay to him and signal him to go away. I can't speak, so why not use body language to respond? "Want me to get some water for you?" he laughs quietly. Okay, now this time, it is an insult. I make an effort to frown at him, but it doesn't work. I'm still choking. Instead, I shake my head aggressively. He takes the hint and laughs while walking, stylishly, into the living room.

I hear the distinct crackles of the T.V. being turned on. It's the news. How original for the man who likes his coffee black, who thinks all the while too logical for my taste, and who always torments the certain little girl that's sitting, and still choking, in her kitchen. I pity the woman who happens to wed him, if he ever does wed.

A few moments after my bothersome choking resides, I finish up my toast, take the dishes to the sink, and drop them there a little too roughly. There goes Mina's lovely glass plates. Shrugging, I say, nonchalantly,

"Oh, well. It's revenge for that blasted phone she got me." I turn on my heels and skip to the living room.

I don't know why, but just looking at the scene before me feels right. It seems as though he just belongs there, in that love seat, in the living room, my living room, in my apartment. I can't believe I'm saying these things about him now! ARGH! What's wrong with me? Ah! I'm dwindling away again

The scene's of him, lounging in the love seat that I have in a comfortable laid back position with his legs cross. One arm is on the arm rest and the other prop up for his leaned head on the other arm rest. His royal eyes are half open and staring, lazily, at the alternating screen of the T.V., breathing steadily and deeply, noticeable by the rising and falling of his broad chest.

'_It feels as though he just belongs hereâ€with me.'_ I smile, inwardly, at the thought.

Even during my morning wake up call and his rude entrance to my home, it felt proper and natural. The breakfast with him, too, felt as though it's an every day thing. Does he belong here, though? He's a pig. He's a cold hearted, disturbingly handsome, selfish and greedy, smart aleck of a pig!

A twinge in the chest becomes my scolding. My heart's not agreeing with meâ€ Oh, why must you fail me so, my precious heart? You should be agreeing with me like my mind is! Why do you betray me now?

His voice stirs me out of my thoughts and sends pleasing shivers up and down my spine. Oh, I can't believe I'm feeling this way

"What's so interesting about me sitting here, Usako?" he calls to me, a pint of mirth evident in his deep baritone. His attention is directed to me and I subconsciously take a breathing step backward, my heart feeling as though it could jump out of throat any time now. I swallow the building sensation. It doesn't help much. My heart's resting in my stomach because of that action and it's still as lively as ever. Damn itâ€ Oh, I've been cursing a lot of things this morning. It's still so early, too. Such a shame.

I shrug all good thoughts of him being in this apartment aside. In fact, I just shrug all good thoughts about the Chiba boar far, far away from my mind. Maybe the Arctic Sea is a good place for them to rest. Ah, I'm sidetracking again. See how sad I am?

Clearing my throat and regaining my cool composure, I tilt my pert snout up and glower at him, saying,

"Just the fact of you watching the news, like now, is something that no one would find interesting, but expected."

"You weren't look at the news, though. Your perspective was clearly on me," he remarks, egotistically. Honestly, how does he manage to fit his universal sized ego in that little brain of his? Someone should conduct some research on this man. He has the biggest self-image I've ever met, and that, alone, says a lot. "No use hiding that very fact, Odango."

"I wasn't looking at you, you selfish bastard!" I interrupt, ferociously. Well, it's not really a lie, right? I was spaced out againâ€ Not my fault. "And how many times must I ask you or tell you? Don't call me that!" I whine. I hate him, as it is unmistakable to everyone in the world.

"Fine then, Usako," Chiba utters, gruffly, smiling a seductive smile. With the way things are now, and the way he's still sitting in my settee, it's enough to make any girl cave in and spend a luscious night of full pleasure and sinister heaven with him. Oh, Gods, I need some support here! I'm melting! Someone get a bucket! Ah, I must not cave into himâ€ Damn

'_Clean up, peoples! There's a mess in Apartment 204!'_ my little minion voice echoes in my mind. _'Better yet, someone perform CPR! She's not breathing!'_

'_Ah, shut the hell up already! I already know I'm losing my will to him right now. Did he put some drug in the coffee? You never know what people might do to you, so it never hurts much to be overly cautious. That's my philosophy!'_

"USAGI!" a muffled, loud and angry, female voice bellows through my door. Immediately, I spin around on my heels, staring dumbly at the door; I was still in a trance from that guy's attack. "Usagi, you better open this door before I have Makoto break it down!" It was Rei. Ah, great. More trouble this morning.

"Hey! Why me?" I hear Makoto's voice complain. A muffled, but distinguished "ouch" emits from her shortly after that gripe. I flick the watch on my wrist a little to get a proper look at the time.

'_I still have one hour until work'_ That's funny. I set my clock at least forty-five minutes before I have to exit the apartment to the department. Unless— "You're one sick man, Chiba," I snarl, accusingly and knowingly. I turn my head back so that he could get a better view of my threatening face. All I get is a cute, boyish smile and a wink. Just exactly what was he planning? Why'd he wake me up so early? Taking a closer look into his eyes, I see the same look I saw this dawn. Oh, Kami, why is he looking at me with those eyes?

"Maybeâ€but I have my reasons," he mumbles slowly. There's my answer right there. He's a sick, perverted bastard! ARGH!! Damn him and his male hormones!

"USAGI!!" It's Minako's voice now. "What are you and Mamoru doing in there?" A couple gasps follow her inquiry and then silence. It's an "Aiyah" for me. Minako gives a curious "What?" and I think I can hear Makoto and Ami working on unbolting my door now, but that can just be my imagination. Is it just me, or is this room suddenly overwhelmingly hot? And why am I flying? Or floating?

"Tsukino Usagi, you open this door!" Oh, Rei's mad about something. What did I do? "NOW!" She's threatening me! What did I do? Oh, Chiba Mamoru, see how much distress you bring to us innocent girls? Why don't you ever just leave us alone? Leave me alone? I gulp nervously as I take hesitant and shaky paces to the angry voices. The door is the only barrier between the sheep and a pack of wolves, the sheep being me. Should I open it?

"How'd Mamoru get into her place anyway? How do you know about it Minako?" Ami speaks up this time, with concern and curiosity in her tone.

"Oh! Well, uh" Yeah. How does she know? I'd like to hear that reason myself! I stand with arms crossed at the door. I'm not opening until I hear her answer!

"She was having a late-night visit to her superstar, Yaten, last night. Didn't come home 'til the early morning," snickers an evil priestess. I stifle an amused laugh and suck in a breath in an attempt to keep my composure. Chiba clears his throat behind me. He heard, as well, huh?

"Oh my," flusters an embarrassed Ami. She's so innocent. I position my hand silently on the bronzed doorknob as I continue to listen in on their chat. I wouldn't be surprised if the next door neighbors hear them. They're speaking a tad bit too loudly.

"So a little rendezvous, eh, Mina? I didn't know you were like that!"

'_Neither did I,'_ I think.

"No, I didn't do anything with him!" Mina retorts.

"Who said I was implying that?" Makoto retorted.

"All we did was talk! And a little bit of horseplay, but that's not the case! We didn't do anything at all! And I know that's what you're implying Makoto! I've known you for so long. Don't expect me to be that lame in not knowing you enough to know that—oh! Forget it!"

I can just picture the girls on the other side. Makoto must be leaning against the door and grinning from ear to ear because of a ever continuously turning a deeper red Minako. She's in the spotlight now. Rei's most likely crossing her arms and standing to a side, rolling her eyes from my twin's words. Ami, on the other hand, is standing the furthest away from the three girls, flushing in shame for listening to such talk. Her poor virgin ears! I wonder if I should save her or not?

A firm body presses against my back while a large, warm hand covers the small one that I have holding onto the knob. At the same time, another hand, equally as large and warm, envelops the free one I have on my side, entwining our fingers together. I feel an electrical current flowing through me. It's not a painful one, though.

'_What's Chiba doing to me now?'_ I feel a gentle and hot breath on the back of my neck, followed by a pair of succulent lips pressing against the alarmed skin as he presses his intense form even closer to me that not even a thin piece of paper can fit through the space between us.

"Usako"

"Oh, Gods," I moan. _'This is unbelievable'_ How can he cause such a reaction in me? I feel as if I'm burning in a blue inferno.

Those touches and advancements cause me to sink into his confinement. I have no where to go because of the door in front and the person in back. If he does anything more, I'll be losing myself to the devil soon if I'm not already there. The girls' voices all drone out from my mind as it turns to a complete mush. All I'm thinking about is how much I love this feeling he's giving me and how much he's scaring me with his touches.

He moves his lips to the hollow of my neck and licks the soft, tender skin there with his moist, burning tongue. Ah, someone make him stop! I can't take this anymore! I think I tried to say something to him earlier, but I don't know what I've said. I try to tell him to stop, but for some reason, my voice box isn't working. How pleasant

Mamoru pulls me even more closer to him, making me feel everything he's made of, and I mean everything! Do I really cause that reaction in him? I don't know whether or not to be horrifyingly disgusted or amusingly pleased

Now, he's moving his body against my back and trailing his fingers along the center line of my body, running all the way to the middle of my chest and down to as low as where my panties start. My body's still not responding to any movements of detest that I should be doing. Instead, it's just falling deeper and harder into his actions.

His torturous lips play with my skin again, and the burning desire inside of me turns into something moreâ€I don't know what it is. I've never felt something like this at all. He moves to my ear and nibbles it, graciously, with his lips and teeth, licking it with his tongue once in a while. I find myself whimpering and moaning, much to his delight. He chuckles in his throat, allowing me to feel the deep rumbling of his throat and chest against my neck and back.

The ebony haired man continues to persecute me like this, his moves slow and steady but, oh, so enticingly passionate. How long time has passed, I have no clue, nor do I give a damn care in the world about that. All my body wants now is his caresses and kisses no matter how sinful and misleading this can be. I can't help it. I love his caressâ€just like this.

"â€enâ€doâ€ko" What? What did he say? I tune into his voice, blocking the intoxicating scent of him out of what little sanity I have in store inside me right now. He murmurs, heavily and raggedly, "Open the damn door, Usako." Oh, that kills it. Atmosphere change was as quick as the speed of light.

I instantly snap back into my reality and not my fantasy. Kami, I had let him ravage me like that! Damn him! Damn his sexuality level! Although, that confirms itâ€ Yes, this pig does have such abilityâ€even against me! Damn me! Damn my body! Damn myâ€damn

'_my heart? What the hell?'_ I holler the next words, "Oh! Forget this!"

With a short battle cry, I wrench my hand out of his grasp and ram him in the guts with all the strength I could muster and watch as he just simply dodges my attack. Well, so I wasn't able to give him the beating he deserves, but at least I don't feel him on me anymore.

The girls are still bickering outside; poor Minako. No, wait

"—why are you asking her such a question?! Oh, you guys are so cruel! How do I even know people like you two? Ami, don't listen to them! Don't you dare listen to them!" Poor Ami!

"Um—"

"Shut up, you twit!" There goes Rei again, squabbling with Minako. "Ami, you have every right to answer that question. Feel free to," she coaxes.

"I really don't—"

"REI!!! I'll be sure to tell Yuuichiro about 'that' if you make another attempt at convincing Ami to agree with you two dolts!" Woo-hoo! Go Mina! Stop. Didn't she use a similar strategy against me? Damn her. Maybe I should let them continue

"Actually—"

"You wouldn't even dare to, Minako! I'll tell Yaten about the time—"

"Don't cross me, Miss Shrine Girl!" Aiyah! I'll open the door now.

"Mina—Ah, Makoto! Watch—" THUNK!—Thud.

Can anyone say—"Oops?" Turns out, Makoto was standing in front of the door. They all forgot about the place they were residing at, too caught up with the whole Minako and Yaten situation, so this is the result. Makoto accepted the full impact of my powerful swing of the door, sprawled on the floor, half unconscious and muttering some useless garble about the birds and her upperclassman.

"Usagi" the deranged Makoto slurred, her emerald eyes seemingly spinning. I feel horrible. She's so nice to me, too! Oh, such a terrible fate.

"Oh, Makoto, I'm so, so, so sorry," I cry out, regretfully and concerned. Who knew I could hit someone with something that hard? I didn't think I'd be able to render anyone into a dream state like I did to my dear russet haired companion at all! Well, not as serious as this. "Girls, help me carry Mako inside. Put her in my room and I'll go get some ice and—uh—smelling salts or whatever I have around here," I order. The silent and unblinking girls help me without a word to get the rambling one up to my bedroomâ€with a few crashes here and there. Makoto's knocked out now. I'll never hear the end of this. I just hope Makoto doesn't hurt me as much I did to her.

The process of waking up the girl was quite simple. She has a highly sensitive nose, I guess, because with just an effortless wave of the smelling salts under her nose, she woke up with a jolt. She had a massive headache, though, and still does, but she forgave me after teasing me about that horrendous Chiba boy and I in the apartment, alone and without any supervision. Minako stayed out of it, much to my happiness and gratefulness and to the girls' utter surprise. She's always the first to jump at anything she can to torture someone if Rei and Makoto don't beat her to it.

Chiba was still in the room, too, and he made the situation about him and me worse by joking with them about "doing things" with me in the morning and so on. I wanted my squeaky hammer back. Maybe I can scare those evil boys away if I carry it around with me. Who wants to be with a twenty-four year old hag with a baby's squeaky hammer anyway? No one I know of.

All the girls left a short while later after some more teasing and another juvenile pillow fight, but Mamo—ah—Chiba stayed with me. Again, we were left alone, and I became highly self-conscious about him and me. After what happened earlier, I have to be more cautious about this man. He makes me feel things that I had never thought I'd ever feel about a man beforeâ€not after all I've been through. He kept his distance from me and treated me a lot colder than ever before. Even colder than the first meeting we had a year ago. What's going on?

He walked with me after an extremely long while of bickering about the pros and cons about driving compared to walking to my department, my work place, and then left to go get his car at my apartment still. He didn't even say goodbye to me. How rude is that?!

Work went along smoothly and busily like always. Customers coming in and calling for orders in all sorts of things, ranging from catering to designing to floristic stuff, the employees talking away like there was no tomorrow about foolish things like hair and nails, and me, surveying everyone at their stations and managing the things that are needed to be taken care of by me and not by anyone else. Ah, being the boss of this department is hassling, but I try to enjoy it as much as possible. I was the one who decided to open this little store, after all, and everyone loves to come here. As long as they're happy and impressed with my work, I'm happy and impressed with the outcome of the store.

I found out that two of my employees are dating that Chiba doofus today, too. It's not really something that I'd like to rumor about, but still. It's interesting, but also appalling, to hear about. It seems like they've both had a little bit of action in the master bedroom. He's so disgusting.

At least these girls are of ageâ€ They're only a little older than me, maybe a year or two at the most, but I can't really tell by the clothes they choose to fashion and the heavy makeup they put on their probably pale and pasty faces. Don't they understand that too much makeup can ruin your beautiful complexion? Sure, it's nice if you just add on a little to enhance your lovely features and hide the ugly ones sometimes, but, give me a break! These girls put on too much and in the most unnecessary places, too.

Their eyes are beautiful and they ruin it with that hideous neon colored eye shadow, and their lips are nicely formed, but they choose to make it even more appealing with those solid ravishing red tones and maroon lipstick. Just a simple dash of lip gloss will be fine for them. They don't need to be putting on makeup like they're at the old age of sixty or seventy now. They're still so young and lively! Don't even let me start on the foundation and the blush! I shudder at the mere thoughts of it. Oh, what is it with people and these fashion crazes nowadays?

I design fashionable things like clothes, accessories, and bath and body supplies. Also, I have little businesses connected to my main one like Makoto's little bistro, which also does some catering for special occasions like weddings and parties, and a small florist shop I had opened and left in charge with one of my trusted business associates, Kayo Watari. Naru decided to join with my branch with her and her mother's store, Osa-P, a jewelry store that has been up and running for countless years. With those links added to my main department of fashion, of course it's awfully hectic and prosperous. We've had no troubles yet, and it's going smoothly and calmly. I just hope that, if, any problems do arise, it'd be solved easily. Hey, one can only wish for such a thing, right?

But back to the main point. I design all sorts of fashions and even help with ideas for my branches in the layout and style of their items, so it is only natural that I know quite a great deal about trendy things, but my styles are never like those of a hooker's or those girls that Chiba sees. Oh, no, no, no! I would never be like that. My styles are all clean cut and pure and everyone loves it. Not once have I heard a complaint from the patrons about any of it. I figured that if no one complains, it's good, but it's never a harm to try harder and do better, right? I always try my hardest to improve my styles and management as do all my other business partners.

I need to do something about the fussy employees, though. I'm scared that they might scare away the clients with the way they look, dress, and talk. I'll talk to the manager some time later. He seems a little stressed about them, too. Looks as if he's trying to cook up a plan to let them down gently without getting attacked. I'll chat with him when he's not so flipped about it. I agree with him, though. Some of the flashy ones look as if they're ready to kill with their perfectly, salon manicured nails and their bleached, pearly whites. Help me, please. Save me from the rapid and foamy piranhas.

I stop by Minako's studio during my silent walk back home to just visit. I didn't tell her that I am coming to visit, but it doesn't hurt to just be a random person once in a while and pop by for a harmless breather at a close friend's working milieu, but that's just my opinion and no one else's. I like surprising people, even though I hate surprises myself.

Humming to a song that I've recently got stuck in my poor, minute brain, I saunter up the few steps of the studio entrance way. Almost immediately, a weird vibe courses through my body, causing my breath to catch and my heart to pound painfully and gruesomely against my chest. Aiyah. This is such a weird day and it's only, what? Five in the afternoon? I check my watch.

"Yep. Only five." A part of me is tugging at my heart strings, telling me to leave the area as soon as possible, but I wave the warning aside. It might just be a false alarm. I wonder if this is another sign of someone getting a heart attack. It's possible, right?

"I know what you're going through and I ain't the one to comfort you, but I do," I chime, silently. I love Utada Hikaru's songs. This one has been stuck in my mind for over a month! "'Cause I need it, too" I smile to the fair gentleman who passes me by while showing him my pass that I carry with me in my wallet. It's a pass that Mina gave me all those years ago. It allows me access into the studio to see her. Lucky, huh? "Time limit ni obiete iru ja" Drats. I forgot the next line of words. I'm so silly.

I halt in front of the dull colored door that I've stopped at, and prepare to knock. But, I hesitate. Something tells me I shouldn't.

'_Stupid self-consciousnessâ€ Nothing can be worse but having that pig in there with Mina. I doubt that's the fact, so go away, you nagging emotion!'_ I mentally picture a little doll being kicked away into the heights of the farthest sky ahead, whining all the way. Ah, at least I got rid of the feeling. "Nothing'll go wrong right now," I say incorrectly and a bit uncertain. Why am I getting so freaked out for? Mina's behind there, so it's fine! It's not as if a demon will pop out and eat me aliveâ€I hope.

Oh, how wrong I am. Standing before my very eyes isn't Minako, my dearest twin, but one of my memories that I despise so much: the man that had abandoned me and betrayed me and my whole being not so long ago

"Tsukino" Lilac eyes widen in surprise a little, but, just as soon as it came, it left. A crooked smile replaces the shocked 'O' he had formed before. A glint of mischief enters his dead orbs. Stray locks of silky dimmed ebony falls into his eyes, giving him a daringly breathtaking look. It might affect other girls that have the right taste in men, but not me. I've lost that fanatic craze a long time agoâ€ Since he broke me to be more exact. "What brings you here, Usagi?" How dare he call me by my name!

"Tsukino to you, Shinjuku Ihara," I bite.

"Still so cold, Usa—Tsukino?" Good. He made a correction. "I thought you'd be over me by now," he slurs with a hint of lust in his last words. "Still dreaming about me like before, love?" He is so disgusting. Why couldn't he just shut it with 'still so cold, Tsukino?' Why does he always have to go on and make matters worse? How could I have been so blind about him before?

"Yeah, I still dream of you, my love," I say, huskily, but sarcastically. I cross my arms and stand to a side, leaning against the doorframe. I feign a seductive smile and continue. "Oh, and how pleasant they are to me. Do you want to know what they're all about? Night after lonely night?" That perverted freak just broadens his stupid smile and growls, lustfully, at my voice. I smirk as a thought races to the main nerves of my head. _'I shall put some good use to the scarf and lounge chair in Minako's room. I'm sure she won't mind if I toy around with my present to her'_

'_Now, there's my girl! Seems like this demon's words and thoughts have finally turned you around for theâ€goodâ€of things, eh?'_

Trying my best to sound as convincingly desirable as possible, I make my movements slow and steady as I advance towards him.

"Better yet" I take the scarf from the hook of the clothes hanger. I have to thank Mina for all of this later. Playing with it in my grasp in a sexual way, I kick the door shut, but never locked it. Of course, I made sure that he is watching me and my actions along the way. By now, I've reached him. Our bodies are only a centimeter apart from one another, too. Did I come too close? Ah, well.

Licking my lips, I lock eyes with him. I slide the scarf around his form and force myself to hoist a leg up and curve around his middle, pressing myself close to him. Straight away, I wish to pull back because of the rather hard form that's rubbing against the lower half of my abdomen. Well, at least I know I can still get some feisty men if I wanted to.

"Usagi," I hear him call to me in a voice just above a whisper. So, after all these years, he still wants my body. I wonder if he knows that he's letting his guard down. Doesn't he know it's a fatal error to be so free and relaxed around me? Might as well remind him, huh?

I tighten the long, silky, mahogany shaded scarf around his middle, taking his arms in with it, too, while I mold my body against his own stiff one. I lean up against him as I perceive his agonizing groan of lust welling from his throat. When purring and nibbling on his ear, I murmur, "Why don't I show you?" Hopefully, all the disgust that I have in me about him isn't showing in my voice or actions. His growling turns into a low hum of pleasure. Guess not.

"Learning new tricks, eh, Usagi?" He leans as close as he can to me and plays with my earlobe with his teeth and tongue. Oh, just for that action, I'll make him suffer a lot more than I planned to at the beginning. I fake a moan and tie a firm knot around his torso from behind. I turn his body with my own and push him down onto the comfortable looking reclining seat behind and below us. I, naturally, end up on top of him.

"Love"

'_Yeah, right,'_ chortles the demonic spirit inside my poor head.

"I'll show you all the tricks I have up my sleeve."

'_What kind of tricks, player-ette?'_

"And I'll be leaving you stunned and satiated—"

'—_in total humiliation and destruction of pride,'_ the imp butts in.

"—once I'm through with you. Believe me when I say that I won't be satisfied any time soon. I hope you're ready, my dear" I run my hands through his thick tresses, trailing them lower and lower until I rest at the edge of his pants and belt. He seems to be enjoying this little act of mine.

'_Operator, Operator,'_ exclaims my sinful half. _'Please connect with me with the big honcho of the nervous system. I wish to take over for the time beingâ€ How long? Until Usagi kills the bastard. What?! You're going to put me on hold? Oh, fine then! I'll wait'_ Do I really wish to kill him?

"Aren't you a rather desperate girl?" my ex comments with an ever deepening tone and darkening glisten in his mauve hinted eyes.

'_He'll die'_ I confirm in my mind. _'He'll die a slow and painful death. I'll make it a lonely one, too._

'_Aw, I was hoping that you'd just kill him with that ax over there! It's more fun, isn't it?'_ the impish voice mockingly whines.

'_That's a prop. I can't believe I'm talking to myself again'_

'_Oh, you better believe it, sweetie! That's what you're doing right now.'_

'_I'm losing it,'_ I speak to my heart. The demon voice is the one that responds, though.

'_You've already lost it, stupid.'_

'_Well, that's true, tooâ€ Okay, I'm going back to my duty now! I'll lose my sanity later'_

'_Will anyone give me some popcorn? I need some popcorn to watch this show so that I'll be thoroughly ecstatic about it later!'_

"Nowâ€ Where were we?" I give a slight, quick tug upwards at his belt, receiving a noticeably loud, wicked grunt from him. "Seems like I hit the right spot, eh?" I arch an eyebrow at his reaction, trying to restrain my inner, ugly, disastrous self from strangling his thick neck. His breaths come out in pants.

"Usagi" he pants as his hands roam higher up my thigh. This pigâ€ Now's my turn to comment on the desperation of this man.

"My, my, my! Aren't you just as desperate, Ihara? Your body and actions are more generous than your words, sir." He chuckles at this and I become annoyed and even more revolted by his actions. _'I'll make sure that 'you'll' never be able to greet another woman like now, sir,'_ I add to myself, pleasantly sarcastic and disgusted.

I show him a quick smirk, adding a tinge of husk in my movements as I unbuckle his pants. Whilst licking my lips, I gather the belt in my hands and bend over to whisper to him,

"Why not let me relieve your little 'pain,' Ihara?" A growl is more than enough to tell me to proceed with my devious plot. I shall go to Hell for this, but it'll be worth it. I can just feel it.

"Usa?"

"Hmm?" I hum, hazily.

"What" I give a minute smile.

"'What's that,' you mean?" I inquire for my twin as I motion my head in the direction of her surprise. She nods, still overly astounded at my beautiful creation before her. My smile broadens into a huge grin, stretched from ear to ear as the devilish glint returns to my crystalloid orbs. "What? You don't like my present for you, Minako? I think it's rather lovely. It's one of my greatest works. And don't worry. I know this manâ€very well," I reassure her when her stunned look turns into that of an overwhelmed rodent caught in its radioactive mousetrap, emphasizing the last words with sarcasm.

"How" she trails again. Ah, I think I just traumatized my best friend. She's never been as lost at colorful words as she is now

I give a slight cough and a knowing look to her, making sure she had my attention, away from the gift. She gets it. She does. She breathes in deeply, and holds it a while as she closes her eyes. Then, she exhales, a hand holding onto the frame of the dimmed door as if to prevent herself from collapsing. Yep. I traumatized her, alright.

"It's a bit extreme, I know, but he deserves it." All men from my past do. "And why not get my sweet revenge now? He's just lucky I didn't kill him like I should'veâ€and would've," I mumble the last part under my breath, but she hears me and jumps to attention whilst banging her head on the doorframe in her abrupt shift in positions with a loud THUMP! _'Oopsâ€I said it too loud again.'_ She doesn't seem to feel the pain that should be there because her gaze never wavers from her staggered expression as she continues to gawk, wide eyed and dangerously, drooped low jaw, at me. Well, maybe I did overdo itâ€just a little.

"Usagi, how could you?! Do you know who he is?" Obviously, she doesn't like my present. I worked so hard at it, too! Shouldn't I get at least get a little bit of credit here? This is the man who made my love life worse by toying with my whole self, heart, soul, mind, and body, for heaven's sake! But now that I think about it, why is my ex in Minako's room? Noâ€ Why is he even in her studio? She definitely can't be playing Yaten. Oh, no, she wouldn't do something like that. I know Mina too well.

"He's the freak that was stupid enough to let his guard down around me," I blurt out, bluntly. _'Really, nowâ€ How stupid can boys be? Obviously, you can't even let yourself get caught unawares by the one you've betrayed and abused because most likely, they'll be seeking your life to take. Honestly! What is it with these men I meet nowadays?! Will someone please answer that for me?'_

'_You ask such a difficult question. This is a life's dilemma that no one could solve. You could say that it's one of life's mysteries,' _suggests my demon pal. I scoff at that.

"This is, indeed, one of life's greatest mysteriesâ€ How can men be such fools?" I sigh to myself and the look at the blonde beside me, fearing what I might see. Oh, worst nightmare come true. My twin seems about ready to blow up like a giant torpedo headed for the active volcanoes in Hawaii.

'_She's scary looking'_ remarks the demon. Oh, hell, yes. She's freaky when she's mad.

"What? You do have to admit, he looks" He looks like those failed transvestite transformations that happen quite frequently to the 'men wanna-be women' people. That's what he looks like, but I won't say that to her. "He looks better than before!" _'That is, if you mind the neon green wig blinding your eyes by the bright light it gives off and the heavily dose of makeup I had to put on his face to make him look more like a drugged up woman than a regular pretty-looking one, which wasn't hard to do. This man has a complex like a female's! It's so easy to draw his features the way I wanted it to be'_ Snapping back to the reality of the situation, I add, "And he could easily get more lovers looking this wayâ€and—"

"That's not the point, Usagi!"

'_Ouch! Ah, my poor, poor eardrums! They hurt! They ring! Make it stop! Demon Mini-Me! Make this pain go away. You are in my head after all._'

'_We seem to be having a little bit of technical difficulties up here. Ask me again later. Have fun with your migraine!'_ Damn that voice of mine

"He is the man that I was in charge of finding for the new movie that that snooty director has been planning since last year! I've finally found the right man, perfect for the role of Quinn—" I suppose that Quinn is one of the leading characters in this production. Huh. I wouldn't be a surprise there. "—and you doâ€youâ€ ARGH!" Oh, my. The volume seems to have increased dramatically in my echoing headâ€ "You go right on ahead and screw with him! Look at him!"

'_Oh, yeah. I'm looking all right. And, I love my work!'_

"He looks like the doped up version of an ugly whore that had just been played with by a radioactive sea monster!"

'_Sea monster?'_ I question in my psyche. That gives me new ideas. Maybe I should've given him that mermaid's tail I saw hanging in the closet instead of the fluffy, teal colored apron that was strewn on the back of the imitation of the director's chair.

"But his makeup is nicely done and the color scheme you gave him is enough to traumatize even the new born children down at the hospital center. Oh, and the wig is nicely placed on, too! I can't even tell a single diff—ARGH! That's beside the dilemma here!"

'_Aw, I was enjoying your praises, too! Please, go on!'_

"The main point is that you messed up the man I was looking for, and had found!" She said that already, right?

'_Go back to complimenting my work. I like that better than this scolding,'_ I whine, mentally. Of course, I feel bad, but just hopefully, she doesn't try to wriggle the wig.

"Usagi, how could you? Who told you to come here today, anyway?"

I shrug, indifferently. "I just decided to pay a visit to my beloved best friend. I met him and he fell for my trap. Simple as that. He was the one who started it anyway." Well, that is kind of true, right? He was the one who had to show up the way he did. "But, believe me when I say to be wary of this manâ€and it's also a wise idea to find another actor to fill the role of your 'Quinn.' He doesn't deserve such a role, Mina. Just believe me when I say that."

"Why should I?" she bites at me. Her words are sharp. I look at her, square in the eye, seriously and unnervingly.

"Because he was my ex-fiancée, Aino Minako." Those words sounded so much better in my head than out in the open. Oh, well. Too late to turn back.

"What are you—" She's cut short when a groan is heard coming from the coming to man, who is still strapped down on the lounge chair I had placed him in. Talk about perfect timing. I wonder if he had a nice nap. It took me about forty-five minutes to fix him up and Mina and I have been standing here, amused and/or disturbed by the sight of this girly looking male for aboutâ€oh, I don't knowâ€ Maybe a good thirty minutes? "Oh, Kami," she squeaks from her throat, covering her mouth with her hands. I just stand there, waiting for him to come to his senses and to see his reaction when he looks in the full length mirror I had moved to the right side of him.

"What," he slurs as if he is drunk, "happened?" His eyes lazily start to open and come into focus as he stares at us two girls standing at the doorway. We must make a funny site because one girl is seemingly about to collapse of shock and trauma and the other is most likely standing with an amused look in her eyes while staring roguishly at the dressed up man. "Aino?" he mumbles, surprised. Well, at least they're not on a first name basis, right? I have nothing to worry about there, I hope. "When did you get here? Usa, what's going on?"

"Why don't you take a look? There's a mirror right beside you, Ihara." Hesitating a little, he does as I implied and, oh, how I love this! He blinks, bemusedly and frightened, with a lovely ghastly white face. Part one of my mission is completed. It was to scare the wits out of this man with himself.

I chuckle and decide to tease him a little more. He is still strapped down, so even if he wanted to wring my small neck, he can't. Not yet, anyway.

"Do you like what I've done to you, my love? Honestly, I think you're even moreâ€appealingâ€than you were before. I'm sure a lot of men would want to have some of 'that' ruffled in their beds at night."

"Usagi!" Minako cries out in astonishment. So, I've said a few, or more, things that are quite uncharacteristic of me, but it's this man we're talking about. I give her an annoyed expression and then a glare, threatening her to continue if she dares. She gets my message and closes her gaping mouth, turning her hazed attention back to the girlish man in her lounge chair. Smart girl.

"Usagi, what the hell did you do to me?" Ihara whines, stupidly but ominously. I roll my eyes at his question and frown at him. He wriggles about in the chair, but I know he can't escape. After all, I did some special knots here and there with the scarf and belt, so no matter how much he struggles, he won't break free unless someone gets some sharp tools in here to free him. I can't free him because, one, I don't want to, and, two, I only said that I know how to make those knots, not how to undo them, and, yes, I'm pathetic that way.

"Ihara, it's a good idea that you don't move so much. You might just make those knots tighter, and I seriously don't know how to free you from them," I advise, but it's for nothing since he doesn't listen and just continues to struggle even more so than formerly. Who cares? It's his loss if the chainsaw has to cut through his arms and legs. That is, I wish they'd use a chainsaw on him. I'd like to sit and watch the sight. "And what kind of question is that? Do you know how hard it was to find the right things to make you look as beautiful as you are now?" Well, he is pretty as a girl. I just over exaggerated a few points here and there to make him look like a 24/7 working and active slut. He growls at me in response and thrashes about more violently, causing the wig to begin to slide off his cranium.

"Well, he does look prettyâ€if you're trying to give him the 'worn out slut' look you told me about once during Halloween" I smile and suppress my laughter; Minako sounds as if she's in the edges of both realms of fantasy and reality. All I do is nod to her comment. I wince at what Ihara does next. "Ohâ€my" the golden blonde breathlessly trails beside me. I brace myself for a scolding, but it doesn't come. All that I'm welcomed with is a sigh and a thudding behind me. Okay, so maybe shaving his head was overdoing it a bit, but at least no more girls will have desires to give themselves up to him anymore. He looks hideous with a bald head! It's traumatizing to everyone. I just know it. I can't believe I did this to him! Oh, I feel terrible for those that he works with now. They'll have to put up with his baldness for a while

"Oh, my god!" Another thud follows that shriek of realization. Well, part two of my operation is now done. That was to make him want to kill himself for his repulsiveness. Now, the whole place is silent and I really do hear crickets chirping in the background. It looks as if Minako has some bug problems here in her studio. I laugh aloud at the irony of the situation before me. Two people, zonked out because of a trauma of a bald head and one person standing to speculate the scene of the crime. I know I'll be yelled at by my currently unconscious friend later on, so might as well have some laughs about it now, right?

Sighing, I say to no my cataleptic fellows, "Well, my job here is done. I'm so sorry, Mina, for scaring you this way. You know I would do nothing to hurt you, but this time, it's different. I might've hurt your job a little, but I didn't hurt you personally. Except for maybe the great extent of a trauma, but still. I didn't do any harm to you in the way I would regret if I did. Scold me al you want when you wake up—I'm all ears!

"And as for you, Ihara, I hope you've been disgraced and ashamed. After all, your face is all that you have in order to hit it big on the screen; your acting sucks. This also teaches you a thing or two about crossing my path. I love the sweet smell of pure revenge in the evening. I think I've lost my appetite, though."

With that been said, I make some futile attempts to carry Minako on my back for her to rest on the couch outside, in the lounge, but all fails until I see a young, buff man walking down the hall. After getting his attention, he kindly helps me carry Minako to the sofa and leaves with a simple word of "Welcome." Why can't men these days be like him? He's so nice, and he's also quite the looker. And his bodyâ€ Wow! It almost seems as ifâ€ Oh, here I go again. I'll just stop before my mouth goes off saying things I'll regret and be ashamed of later.

Leaving behind a small note of an apology and brief explanation for my actions today, I plant a tiny kiss on the slumbering Minako's forehead and head out the door, humming a small tune that my red headed companion had got me addicted to a couple months ago.

As I reach the sidewalk of the parking lot of the Affairs, the churning and queasy feeling that I've felt previously returns. It might be a false alarm again because no one's here that can harm me at the momentâ€not near me at least. My gut told me to hurry home, and I do just that, trying hard to be nonchalant about it.

"It's just a false alarm, Usagi. There's no need to be all worked up about such a thing," I encourage my mind, heart, and body. "Just look forward. Don't dare turn back, and walk with high poise, all the way home. It's close, so just keep your feet moving!" My mind and body do as they're told, but my heart is still at unrest. It's almost as if my soul's telling me that 'he' is nearby. My breath catches again and I start to panic, my pace noticeably quickening as I stumble in my walk home. "Just a few more blocks," I chime.

"Talking to yourself, Usako?"

"Stay away!" I scream and kick in the direction of the voice behind me, instinctively. At least that action isn't put to waste; it hit the target, nicely. The voice replays in my mind, but it isn't how I remember 'his' to sound like. Similar in depth, but tone is totally different. 'His' is more of a cold-blooded murderer, which he is, and this is more of just an emotionless male thatâ€ Aiyah! Oops.

"What the hell are you doing, Usagi?! Damn!" A trail of semi-colorful curses that I hate hearing spouts from the mouth of this demon I despise so much. Why does he always show up at times like these?

"It's your own damn fault, you dolt. You're the one that always sneaks up behind me and pretty much stalks me wherever I go. A girl does need to learn some self-defense, you know?" I complain. He replies with another lovely train of poor language, but softer this time, as if he's reprimanding himself for his stupidity than to me.

"You'll be paying refuge if this starts to bruise, Tsukino," he finally says to be, rubbing the sore spot on his lower abdominal region. I'm kind of glad that I didn't kick him any lower than that.

"Chiba pig," I hiss, unsmilingly. How'd me make me pay for such a thing? If it bruises, it bruises! I can't do anything to stop that.

"A treatment like this morning would be your payment, Usako," he implies with the husky tone that I know all too well. This stupid perverted bastard. I ignore his comment outwardly, though, and just tilt up my head, stare at him in the eyes as if to try to make him weak and meager, and turn on my heels, sauntering away in long strides down the sidewalk. I hear a chuckling sound a few seconds later, followed by distinct clicks of those expensive men's leather shoes follow behind mine. I quicken my strides, but it's not enough. He catches up to me a couple milliseconds after my attempt to get further away. Damn this freakishly tall man and is stubbornness! It's driving me nuts, if it hasn't already!

"Damn you, Chiba."

"Thanks for the damnation, Odango Atama," he rumbles into my ear. That sends some disturbingly pleasurable shivers through me again; I hate this reaction, as always. It always leaves me wanting more of it in a way, and it also bemused me to a point of simple pain. A pain of what, I still can't figure out.

"You're welcome, bastard. Go away now," I mumble, dryly and tiredly. Honestly, dealing with the likes of him always seems to wear me down in a short while.

"Well, aren't you a demanding little bitch, Usagi? What's wrong?" His second inquiry catches me by surprise. Is that concern I hear in his voice again? Ah, so this man is showing more and more of a heart to me now. I wonder why

"Yes, something's wrong," I start, but at all times, with a cynical pitch. I whirl around to meet his blue hazed gaze with my own. Then, I carry on. "There seems to be a giant lugging around behind me. It's quite uncalled for and I'd like for it to be removed from my presence because I've already got enough trouble floating around in the atmosphere here. I just want to hurry home and be safe there. If you can so kindly do that for me, Chiba Mamoru, I'd be glad for a change and not as upset and as cursed as before I met you." A sharp slice to the heart is what my words cause me to feel. I wonder if he feels that tooâ€ I doubt it.

I give in to the sudden urge to rip away from his eyes and take quicker, larger steps than previously in my gait on home. Something is telling me that I shouldn't have wasted my time here, arguing with him, and also to not turn back to see the raven haired man's expression due to my harsh words. I go against my heart's desires to stop and apologize, and break into a soft run; the apartment complex's only a few blocks down anyway.

'_It's just a false alarm! There's only Chiba behind me. No one else. Not him, not Ihara, not anyone but Mamo—er—Chiba.'_ How many times have I've slipped in calling Chiba by his first name? I must still be out of it, huh? After all, I haven't gotten any proper sleep, so I'll just blame my behavior on that. I can do that, right? It's not as if my heart's changing because of that insolent baboon headed shrimp of a chauvinistic idiot, right? Right?

'_You're facing a change of heart, Usagi? It's interesting that you're taking a fancy on a man like him. After all, isn't he the one you hate?'_ goes the voice inside me. It's impossible; I can't possibly take on a fancy for his kind. I can't.

"Kami, help me. If I ever dare to admit to feelings for that man, just kill me on the spot. I never want to be in love" I don't want to be hurt again. It's unbearable.

I recall something from my memory as it starts to come alive within my heart and soul again, the words and feelings still burning into my empty heart.

'_Love is nothing but pain and pure torture. It'll only rip you to shreds after some fouled up pleasures that you assumed you had truly shared with your other half. It'll leave you broken and tornâ€ Forever scarred and burdened with the consequences of assuming to be in love. _

'_Never give in to that kind of pain no matter how yearning it becomes, Usagi. Never become so vulnerable to that curse. It'd be a shame to see youâ€vulnerableâ€like that.'_

How interesting. I still remember every word he told me so long ago. How can the man who assaulted me so be so terribly influential on my life in the present? But I must admit that his words, no matter how cruel and degraded they seem to be, are true. It happened to me, so it must be true.

The genuine cruelty of reality is almost unreal to me. How could someone at such a young age of ten be affected so much that it continues to haunt them in the present? How can some girl, still in her mid-stages of girlhood, have so many tragedies then and have to atone for those sad plots of fate with her own life? How can just one little child bring such chaos to those that are loved?

"It's pure irony to me" I whisper to myself. I'm happy that the man didn't follow me. Guess I run too fast for him? Or maybe my words left him in a daze, eh? Well, I don't know what stopped him from chasing me, but I'm glad that he didn't do so. Why? How simple can the answer be?

I'm crying. Yes, I am. I'm weak and hurt right now. I'm forever broken and unable to mend anymore. This pain is all thanks to today and now; first, it's that Chiba fool, and then it's the pompous freak of nature, Ihara. Now, I have this irksome feeling of a creepy pervert around me. No doubt, a freakin' male, too. If it's a female, Kami, save me

'_It'd be a shame to see youâ€vulnerableâ€like that.'_ Oh, I hate those words. I never wanted to be vulnerable to anything, especially men, but I can't help it. I am weak and frail, I presume, if I admit to that much. I'm not saying that I need men. No. Don't you dare get me wrong there! I most definitely would be better off with not a single trace of a man in my life! But, I can't help the fact that they're there, in front of me, in back of me, beside meâ€everywhere. They're everywhere

"I can't be like this anymore. I won't let anything happen againâ€not again," I scold myself. "I can't let him be so persuasive in the life I lead now. He's in the past. So what if I saw him just recently? So what if I feel as if he's watching me? He'll go away, right? He'll vanish sooner or later" Ah, curse it all. My words aren't comforting at all. I need Mina with me right now. I'm so scared. I'm so utterly and terribly scared.

I'm starting to regret saying those words to Chiba. If I had just left him alone, he would be where I am right now, right beside me, and most likely cuddling me and squishing against him. I hate it when he does that, but I feel strangely safe when he does those kinds of things to me. Mind you, I still dislike Chiba with a greatly strong passion, but if only he is here with me right now. I don't want him to see my crying face, but I don't give a care anymore about those things.

"Mamoru" I cry out to myself. I stop my sprint and slide down the wall of the familiar building in front of me. "Mamoruâ€Mina" I can't stop my tears, nor can I stop my trembling body and bleeding soul. "Someone save me from here. I don't want to be here anymore."

A distinct purr and mewling of a cat traps my attention for a brief second. So, I ran that far, huh? Not bad, eh? I curl up into a tight ball, with my head resting on top of my knees, and continue to release the sniffles that I've had held in my heart for so longâ€for too long. Who knew these memories could do these things to me? I didn't.

The cold sensation of the wall against the bared skin of my back feels refreshing somewhat. Luna's gentle purrs and callings, too, are just as soothing. I know she's just sitting there with her big, intense claret orbs staring at my cowardly form, her tail trailing, slowly, to and fro in back of her.

"I don't want to be here anymore."

'_A chilling sensation_

_Is coursing through me,_

_Telling me of a warning,_

_Beckoning me to be wary._

_A pulling feeling_

_Is yanking at my body,_

_Cautioning me to retreat,_

_And shouting to back away._

_A scalding emotion_

_Is churning in my mind,_

_Worrying me about 'it,'_

_Revealing the cause of this._

_I turn and look about my milieu,_

_But I see nothing but peace,_

_And the ambiance of dread_

_Fades away like a false alarm.'_

T.B.C.

x. Disclaimer:

All of Sailor Moon does not belong to me, Lady Amari Espris—sadly enough. ::sighs:: All rights of this series belong to the wonderfully talented Takeuchi Nakao. As for everything else (plot, characters that aren't from Sailor Moon series, and poetry, too), it does belong to me, so don't steal, please! ::bows::

x. Author's Notes: (September 3, 2004)

Etoâ€ ::looks at the audience:: I'm really sorry for the late update, but I can't help it. First, my ISP is going haywire, and so I can't go online at times. Also, I was away on a trip (as I've mentioned previously), and I'm getting ready for school, which is starting after Labor Day. ::weeps:: All my friends are gone! ::sighs:: Ah, well. Might as well try to make new ones, right? (::mumbles:: If my heart's into itâ€)

Anyway, I know the characters seem to be out of character, but it has to do with the way my story is written, so please just find a way to tolerate it. If you can't, then I'm sorry. But, do you peoples like it the way it is right now? (Sorry if I left it at another cliffhanger! ::kowtows:: It just felt right to end it there.)

In addition, thank you to all those who reviewed! I don't have the list of people that reviewed with me right now (internet's down again ::rolls eyes::), but still. Thank you so very much! You don't know how much they all mean to me! Er, but I have a questionâ€does anyone know what "kol" means? ::scratches head:: I'm lost about that, but I'm happy for any reviews! (Even flamesâ€I thinkâ€ ::blink blink::)

Also

For those that are wondering, "When in hell is this stupid girl going to get Mamoru and Usagi together? The wait's tiring!" Well, sorry to burst your bubbles, but I won't be getting them together any time soon.

I'm hinting at it with Usagi's feelings towards him, and Mamoru's behavior towards her as well; can't you tell? Things are progressing rather nicely between the two of them, but I'm a complicated girl, and with that, I create complicated situations. ::smirks:: You'll see what I mean later.

But, basically, Mamoru will be trying to get her (it's obvious he's trying right nowâ€sort of. Teasing does count as trying to get Usagi, okay? Even though it's sadâ€but, oh well! ::sticks out tongue like a little child::), but—remember—Usagi has a complicated life before her, and it affects her future as well. She doesn't want to believe in love (as stated before), and all those other things, so of course, she'd repel a man like Mamoru.

So, what I'm saying is this: Thanks to those who offer ideas to me in how to get the two unforgettable couples together, but I'm not that simple as to let them fall for one another because of stubbornness and a simple kiss (no matter how much passion is put into that kiss).

Believe me when I say that it'll all be worth it in the end. Unless I have some more plot twists that I don't plan on writing right now. (It does happen, and it surprises even me! Look at what I wrote above, for heaven's sake! I can't believe I wrote that steamy scene—if that's what you'd call it—between Usagi and Mamoru! ::flushes in embarrassment and shame::)

Well, please look forward to the next chapter, okay? I'm not sure exactly what I'll be writing, but I always do things at the last minuteâ€too spontaneous, ne? ::bows again and exits while tripping over some chords and wires on the ground::


End file.
